


Mahou Shoujo Magia Record - Because Someone's Gotta Un-Cancel This Game!

by Shaymeme



Category: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Comedy, Feels, Fluff, Gen, Plot Twist, Puella Magi Madoka Magica Spoilers, RIPNAserver, references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26394415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaymeme/pseuds/Shaymeme
Summary: While Madoka Kaname was minding her own business in her apartment up in the heavens (because she's god), a car crashed through the wall, and out of the car came a magical girl Madoka had never seen before. The magical girl pleaded Madoka to help her with one thing and one thing only - stop the cancelation of the Magia Record mobile game!Now, armed with a car that disregards all laws of physics (and probably continuity), a completely average writer, and a magical girl who's sense of humor is so cynical, it's bordering on plain douchiness, Madoka goes on a quest to fulfill one very simple goal; find the guy in charge of Magia Record, and slap some sense into him until he un-cancels the game!Note: Previously called "Madokami's Bizarre Adventure"
Relationships: Akemi Homura/Kaname Madoka
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. So, like, the game got cancelled.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The adventure begins!

Madoka Kaname sat in her apartment in the heavens, reading a book.

Being a goddess had its benefits. For example, she could shape her apartment to look exactly like her childhood home. Sure, her parents weren’t there, there was no little brother to tell him he’s not allowed into her room, there were no friends to gossip and chat with… Madoka shook her head violently. ‘Don’t. Don’t think about that. Focus on what’s in front of you…’ Madoka told herself, however, she couldn’t ignore the memories that flooded her. She closed her book and looked at it. “Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica…” She muttered to herself. Some people would say it’s narcissistic to read a story where you’re the hero, but Madoka didn’t care about herself. As a matter of fact, every time she read the story again, she realized more and more how pathetic she was, how everything was her fault. She didn’t read it for an ego boost, she read it because that way she could see her friends again, without disturbing the delicate balance of the universe. She missed them all so much. She really did. Madoka held the book to her chest. She felt her body starting to shake, but she quickly calmed herself down. ‘Stop it. You can’t do that. Stay strong.’ She told herself, standing up from the comfortable chair she sat on. She moved towards her computer, sitting down in front of it. She opened her email, seeing that as usual, she had several hundreds of mails from Gen Urobuchi, asking why she didn’t come to filming that day as well, and how the fans and the executives were chewing him off about how it’s been almost 6 years since the movie was announced, and they’ve got nothing to show yet. Madoka simply sighed. It’s not that she has anything against Gen, or the idea of the movie, it’s just that she’s still tired. She also constantly remembered what happened the last time she agreed to help with entries in the franchise. They wouldn’t let her go, constantly asking her for more. It started with minor appearances in the spin-off manga, then major appearances, then, it came; the request to star in a sequel movie, that would continue from where the series left off. Madoka agreed, not knowing what it would lead to. After that, she realized she needed a long, LONG break from the franchise, and she got it, until in 2018, they simply asked her if she was willing to let them add her to the spin-off game they made. She was hesitant, but eventually agreed. Madoka ignored the mails from Gen, then saw the one other thing that always brought her down; royalty paychecks. A reminder that she could never escape from this franchise completely, and that eventually, she would HAVE to film that movie, because she didn’t want to disappoint the fans. The fans who stood by her all this time, and wanted exactly what she wanted – Closure.

Madoka massaged her temples, then felt sleepiness wash over her. She stood up and approached the couch, folding her wings. “A little nap won’t hurt…” She said, collapsing face first into the pillows.

Madoka had no idea for how long she slept, all she knew is that she was awakened by the sound of a loud crash. Her eyes shot open and she stood up straight.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?!?” Madoka said, her eyes darting across the room, looking for the source of the sound, her eyes stopping at the sight of the DeLorean that pierced a hole in her wall.

“What’s a DeLorean doing here…?” Madoka said, slowly approaching the car. She realized it wasn’t just any regular DeLorean, but it was modeled to look just like THE DeLorean from Back to The Future. Madoka raised her hand in order to touch the car’s hood, only to flinch at the sound of a door slamming shut.

Madoka turned her head towards the sound, seeing a surprising sight; a magical girl with black hair, wearing a black cloak that reached her knees and hid her body, except her midriff. She was wearing pink thigh highs, along with a short skirt, and her soul gem was placed on her right thigh. The girl’s head turned until she came face to face with Madoka. The girl’s face turned intense.

‘Scary!’ Madoka thought to herself. The girl slowly approached her. “I-I’m sorry, is there anything I can do to help you?” Madoka asked, slowly inching away from the girl. The girl lunged at Madoka, and Madoka closed her eyes, however, when she opened them, she saw the girl simply grabbed her hand. The girl was on her knees.

“Please… Help me un-cancel Magia Record!” the girl cried out in a pleading voice.

“…EH?” Madoka asked, her head tilted sideways in confusion.

XXX

“Here, please, drink this.” Madoka told the girl, handing her a cup of tea. The girl grabbed it with her hands and started drinking it. Madoka swirled her finger in the air, a tray of cookies and sweets manifesting in her hand. She placed it down on the table, as the girl seemed to choke on her tea for a reason. She stopped drinking it, coughed a couple of times, then looked at Madoka.

“You can do that?” She asked her, seeming surprised.

“Of course. God, remember?” Madoka replied with a smile on her face.

The girl put her cup of tea on the table and grabbed Madoka by her hand again.

“Then surely, stopping the cancelation of Magia Record should be easy, right!?!?”

Madoka slowly pushed the girl’s hands away.

“Calm down. Let’s go step by step. First things first, what’s your name?” Madoka asked.

“My name… It’s Kuroe…” The girl said, hesitating at her last name.

“Kuroe? No offense, but that’s kind of a weird last name, right?” Madoka asked, an awkward smile on her face.

“That’s not my last name. It’s my first name. My last name… It hasn’t been revealed yet. Even I don’t know it.” Kuroe said, her head down.

“Oh. I see.” Madoka said. She understood what it felt like not really knowing who you are, but she didn’t think she was at the same level as Kuroe-Chan. Not even knowing your last name… That must be harsh.

“I’m guessing that your last name was going to be revealed in the game, right?”

“Yeah. But now that the game’s cancelled, I guess I’ll never know my last name… Which is why I was hoping you could maybe help me convince Aniplex to un-cancel the game!” Kuroe said to Madoka, her eyes glimmering with hope.

What Madoka did next hurt her more then it probably did Kuroe.

“I’m really sorry, but I can’t help you.”

Kuroe’s eyes still glimmered with hope.

“Why? I’m sure you can convince them!”

It hurt Madoka so much.

“I’m sorry, but I’m only God. I have no power over them, and they’re not obligated to listen to my pleas. I can’t help you. I truly am sorry.”

It hurt Madoka so much to destroy someone’s hope.

Kuroe’s shoulders slumped.

“I see… So, I guess I’ll be left forever like this, not even knowing my own last name…”

It truly pained Madoka. She couldn’t look.

“Unless…”

Kuroe’s tone changed. It felt like ice water washing over Madoka’s body.

“Unless I force you to help me.”

Madoka looked up, and saw that Kuroe had a scary smile on her face.

“Kuroe-Chan, you’re scaring me…”

“You’re gonna help me get the game un-cancelled, whether you like to or not, Kaname-Senpai!” Kuroe yelled, dragging Madoka towards the DeLorean.

“Wait! No! I can’t help you! We’ll both get in trouble for this!” Madoka yelled, struggling to escape Kuroe’s iron grip, her attempts ending up fruitless.

“If you help me, I’ll find you and Akemi-Senpai a good couple’s therapist!” Kuroe said.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s get this game un-canceled!” Madoka replied, dragging Kuroe into the DeLorean, her eyes dreamy from the sheer thought of getting together with her EX again.


	2. The one where the DeLorean gets explained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madoka's and Kuroe's journey officially starts, but they can't get anywhere without doing the most important thing first - realizing how the hell does the DeLorean work!

Madoka wore an awkward look on her face as she felt Kuroe’s eyes staring at her, the purple orbs digging holes in the side of Madoka’s face. Madoka looked at Kuroe, then chuckled awkwardly.

“So… How do you start this thing up?” She asked, scratching her head.

Kuroe inputted the car’s unlock code, then turned the keys. The car’s engine roared to life.

“Right… Just like how you start up any other car…”

“ _Sigh_ Move aside, Kaname-Senpai.” Kuroe said as she moved to the driver’s seat instead of Madoka.

“Say, Kuroe-Chan, I’ve been wondering; why use a DeLorean?”

“Because the DeLorean is so heavily associated with time travel that literally anyone can reference it, and people immediately understand the reference refers to time travel, to the point that this specific DeLorean actually has the power to travel through time, space and universes. Also, this adventure is gonna be full of so many references, I thought I might as well get one out of the way immediately.” Kuroe said, messing with the car’s Dashboard.

“Alright. So, where are we going?” Madoka asked.

“Well, we COULD go straight to Aniplex’s offices in Chiyoda, but if I’ve learned anything from Rick and Morty, unless we go through some hardships first, something is gonna go horribly wrong. Also, it’ll be a lot funnier if you just yell at the idiot in charge of the game, and there’s no way to make you do it without pissing you off, so we’re gonna take the long way around.” Kuroe replied, making sure the Flux Capacitor is functioning.

“So…?” Madoka asked.

“So, we’re gonna pull a Tamura. Anyway, hold on tight.”

Before Madoka could reply, Kuroe floored the gas pedal, and the car shot forward with speeds that easily exceeded 88 miles per hour. A portal opened, and the car flew through it.

“So, how do we determine what timeline, place or universe we’re going to enter?” Madoka asked, holding on tight to the dashboard.

“Let’s see…” Kuroe said, pulling out a map. Madoka looked at it, however it all looked like a bunch of unreadable chicken footprints to her, but Kuroe traced her finger over the map, as if she understood what it said.

“Alright, so we want to avoid the universe where we’re all emo… I don’t really like the universe where Kyubey took over the entire world using the power of pickles and ketchup… We DEFINTELY don’t wanna go to the universe where everyone sounds like Eric Cartman… Ah ha! This one sounds good!” Kuroe said, her finger stopping over a random string of chicken footprints.

“Now just input the coordinates… And here we go!” Kuroe muttered to herself, inputting the coordinates, then flooring the gas pedal again and turning the wheel to the right.

The car moved in a collision course towards the blue energy walls of the tunnel that surrounded them.

“Kuroe-Chan, are we supposed to be colliding with that wall!??!?” Madoka yelled in panic.

“It’s fine! We’re exiting the travel tunnel! Still, you should hold on tight, because this is gonna be a bumpy ride!” Kuroe yelled back, an excited look on her face.

As the car sped up more and more, Madoka closed her eyes, refusing to open them until she felt that the car has reached a screeching halt. Madoka opened her eyes, seeing the world around her. It seemed… weird. Like an internet comic. Kuroe and Madoka both unbuckled their seatbelts, then exited the car.

“Kuroe-Chan… Where are we? This place looks weir – OH MY GOD, YOUR FACE!” Madoka said, turning around and looking at Kuroe. Kuroe looked exactly like she did before, except she looked smaller and chubbier, like a cartoon with simplified line art. Kuroe looked like a chibi version of herself.

“I think you need a mirror, Kaname-Senpai.” Kuroe replied, her voice sounding more pitchy, and slightly grating.

Madoka looked down at her hands, then realized her hands had the same cartoonish, chibi look as Kuroe. Madoka touched her face, realizing she became cartoonish and chibi, just like Kuroe.

“No… Don’t tell me…” Madoka said, realizing her voice was also more pitchy, and was so grating it was rather annoying.

“Yep.” Kuroe replied, a tired look on her face.

“WE GOT STUCK IN ISEKAI QUARTET!” Madoka yelled in horror, grabbing her face.

“That’s not what happened, baka! Now pull yourself together!” Kuroe said, karate chopping Madoka on the head.

“Why’re you so mean, Kuroe-Chan? Neh? Neh!?!? You were much nicer before we got here!” Madoka said, tears in her eyes.

“That was before you started trying to be a comedian. Now come on, let’s move!” Kuroe said.

“Hmph! You meanie…” Madoka said, twiddling her thumbs.

“Start moving already, you useless goddess!” Kuroe said, an angry look on her face, one that was extremely exaggerated for comedic effect.

“WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?” Madoka asked, crying.

“BECAUSE YOU MENTIONED ISEKAI QUARTET, SO I THOUGHT WE’D GET THE KONOSUBA REFERENCE OUT OF THE WAY RIGHT AWAY!” Kuroe yelled.

“Ahh. That makes sense. Alright, let’s go.” Madoka said, moving forwards as if nothing had happened.

Kuroe looked as if she was about to say something, but she simply sighed and started walking.

“So, if this world isn’t the world of Isekai Quartet, what world is it then?” Madoka asked.

“We’re in the world of Magia Report.” Kuroe replied, her hands behind her head.

“Ahh, right, obviously.” Madoka said, an understanding smile on her face. ‘I have no idea what Magia Report is!’ she thought to herself.

“It’s an official, comedic re-imagining of the Magia Record plot, written and illustrated by PAPA.” Kuroe said.

“I… I knew that.” Madoka said, her voice making it pretty obvious that she didn’t know that.

“So anyway, what’re we looking for here?” Madoka asked.

“Well, we’re either looking for someone to join our quest, or we’re looking for a mystical McGuffin that can help us convince Aniplex to not cancel the game. Or we’re looking for both. I honestly don’t know.” Kuroe said.

“We’re doomed…” Madoka said, a stream of tears rolling down her cheeks.

“We’ll be fine, Kaname-Senpai! As long as we keep moving, the plot will make sure we’re doing the right thing!”

“I guess you’ve got a point… Still, I’m worried we’re wasting our time.”

Madoka looked at her surroundings and realized a peculiar thing about them.

“Is it me, or are these streets very empty?” Madoka asked Kuroe.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, we’ll run into someone soon.”

“How can you be sure, Kuroe-Chan?”

“Five bucks says I’m right.”

Before Madoka could reply, she felt something smack her in the back of the head with the force of a 2-ton truck. She flew forwards and crashed into a fence.

Kuroe simply approached Madoka and extended her hand. Madoka willed 5 bucks into existence, then put them in Kuroe’s hand. She slowly rose to her feet and rubbed her aching head.

“Ita… Who smacked me?” Madoka asked Kuroe, who simply pointed behind her, too busy making sure the money was authentic.

Behind Madoka stood a girl with medium length blonde pigtails. She wore a magical girl outfit consisting of a short skirt, baggy beige thigh highs, a hood with cow horns and goggles, two long cloth ‘pigtails’ and fingerless long-sleeved gloves that reached above her elbows. In her hands she held a big hammer, and on her face, she wore a furious expression.

“Mou, Felicia-Chan, why did you smack me, you meanie!?!?? What did I do to deserve that?” Madoka said, lightly hitting Felicia like a windmill in the process.

“Ehh? Pink hair? That you? Sorry! Thought you were an Uwasa or something.” Felicia said, lowering her hammer.

“Wassup?” Kuroe said, offering Felicia a high five.

“Ehh? The hell are you?” Felicia asked with a confused look on her face.

Kuroe used Madoka as a shoulder to rest on as she cried. “Shh. Shh. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.” Madoka said, running her hand through Kuroe’s short hair.

“So anyway, what are you doing here, pink hair and…?”

“Kuroe.”

“To answer your question, Felicia-Chan, we’re looking for people to join our quest, or a McGuffin to help us in accomplishing our goal. Or both. We honestly don’t know.”

“What’s your quest?”

“We’re trying to convince Aniplex to un-cancel Magia Record.” Kuroe said.

“EH!!?!??! Magia Record’s getting cancelled? Then that means… We’re also getting cancelled! I’ve gotta warn the others! We have to move somewhere else and all of that!” Felicia said in a panicked voice.

“Calm down, Felicia-Chan. We’re gonna stop Aniplex, we promise you. All we need is a party member/McGuffin from this universe so that we can stop them.” Kuroe explained.

“Well, I don’t know what a ‘McMuffin’ is, but if it’s OK, I’ll gladly join you guys!” Felicia said.

“Really?”

“Yeah! You have my hammer, and what not!” Felicia said while giving off a peace sign.

“Ahh, thank you, Felicia-Chan! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Madoka said while giving Felicia a tight hug, ‘accidentally’ smothering her in the process.

“This is the life…” Felicia muttered to herself.

“When did this franchise get so perverted…? Oh well, never mind.” Kuroe said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Anyway, we should get moving, right?” Felicia asked, tearing herself away from Madoka’s ‘hug’, as much as it hurt her to do so.

“Yeah. But now we’ll have to walk all the way to the DeLorean… Argh…” Madoka sighed in frustration.

Kuroe simply pulled out a set of keys, car keys being a part of the set. She pressed a button on the car remote, then started waiting, counting back in her head.

7 seconds later, the DeLorean appeared right next to the three, a trail of fire left by its wheels.

“WHA! It can do that?!?!?” Madoka asked.

“We’re talking about a car that can travel through time, space and dimensions. I think it’s kind of obvious that it can come to my location with the press of a button.”

“…Fair enough.”

“Yo, this thing is sick! This ride is yours, cloak?” Felicia asked, her eyes shimmering with excitement.

“The name’s ‘Kuroe’, and yes, it is mine.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever! I call shotgun!” Felicia yelled, a smile on her face.

“Listen up, you little…” Madoka said, rolling up her sleeves, preparing to give Felicia a piece of her mind. However, Kuroe stopped her.

“You have to respect shotgun rules, Kaname-Senpai. You’re sitting in the back.” Kuroe said.

“I hate it… it makes me feel like a little kid…” Madoka grumbled from the back seat while Felicia and Kuroe sat in the front.

“You’re only one year older than me, Pink Hair. You ARE a little kid.” Felicia said, chuckling to herself.

“Still, I’m a goddess! I don’t age the same way as you two! Plus, I’ve existed since the birth of the universe! Technically, I’m the oldest one here!” Madoka whined, flailing her arms.

“That KonoSuba skit was a one-time thing! You are not supposed to start acting like Aqua!” Kuroe said with an angry look on her face.

“You’re the one that said we needed references, desho?” Madoka said, sticking out her tongue.

“Come on, let’s go! The next universe awaits us!” Felicia said.

“Yeah. You’ve got a point. _Sigh_ We’ve got no time to fight…” Kuroe said.


	3. Yachiyo Down the Runway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After recruiting Felicia-Chan, Kuroe and Madoka move forward to the next universe, in order to recruit their next teammate (but mostly to advance the plot). There, they find the coolest magical girl ever. Too bad her composure is lost when they start to heat things up!

“Alright, so, where should we go now?” Kuroe asked the two.

“Pizza Hut!” Madoka yelled.

Kuroe and Felicia-Chan simply turned around and looked at Madoka.

“What? I’m hungry!” She proclaimed.

“…Anyway, where should we go?” Kuroe asked again, this time regarding only Felicia-Chan.

“Before that, just one question.” Felicia said.

“Hmm? Yeah, what is it, Felicia-Chan?”

“Why are you two so big!?!?” Felicia-Chan asked, pointing at Madoka and Kuroe.

Only then did Kuroe and Madoka look at themselves and realize they returned to their normal looks, while Felicia-Chan stayed cartoonish and chibi.

“Ahh, about that, Felicia-Chan. We only looked like that because of the rules of your universe. Now that we’re no longer there, we look like we normally do.” Madoka explained.

“Huh. OK. That makes sense.” Felicia said, nodding her head with a smart expression on her face.

“That’s all fine and dandy, but can we please go back to the part where we pick a destination?” Kuroe asked, her eye twitching slightly.

“Right, right. Say, Cloak, how about we go to a place where we can find Yachiyo-San?” Felicia-Chan asked.

“Yachiyo-San?” Kuroe asked.

“Yeah! I’m sure she’ll be able to help us! And besides, Yachiyo-San’s awesome, no matter what universe she’s from, so you don’t even have to pick a specific one! You can just input random coordinates!” Felicia-Chan said.

“Umm, that’s not how that works…” Kuroe said, awkwardly scratching her head.

“Shouldn’t we get moving…?” Madoka asked.

“Right on it! Don’t worry for even a second, Pink Hair!” Felicia said, inputting random coordinates into the car’s universal GPS at lightning speeds.

“Ahh, wait, Felicia-Chan – “ Kuroe yelled, but it was too late, as Felicia pressed the confirm button and slammed Kuroe’s foot on the gas pedal.

“HERE WE GO!!!!” Felicia-Chan yelled, pulling the steering wheel to the left.

As the car moved towards a collision course with the tunnel walls, Kuroe and Madoka closed their eyes, praying for this horrible experience to end already so that they could throw up safely.

XXX

As the car finally came to a screeching halt, Madoka and Kuroe climbed out of the vehicle on all four, crawled somewhere and threw up.

Felicia-Chan, on the other hand, looked totally fine. She exited the car, stood up, stretched, took in a deep breath, then sighed a sigh of relief. She turned her head to face the two fellow magical girls. After seeing their rather pathetic state, she frowned.

“Come on, get a grip, you two. We need to find the Yachiyo-San of this world.” Felicia-Chan said, however, her voice sounded weird. It sounded like the voices those old NES games used when characters talked. Felicia-Chan looked down and saw her hands. They were black and white, with limited shading. Her body was outlined with medium thickness black lines. As she brought her hands to her face, she realized that they were moving as if reality was suffering from frame dips, or rather, as if reality was skipping frames altogether. Felicia-Chan finally put 2 and 2 together, realizing where she was.

“Guys! We’re in a manga!” Felicia-Chan said, a look of excitement on her face.

“We noticed…” Kuroe groaned. Her voice was exactly like Felicia-Chan’s, Kuroe's words manifesting in front of Felicia-Chan in a text bubble.

“Our words are appearing in text bubbles. That’s awesome!” Madoka said.

“I know, right? Mangaverse for the win!” Felicia-Chan replied, the two exchanging a fist bump.

“Let’s find Yachiyo and recruit her.” Kuroe said, joining in on the fist bump.

“Wait. How do you even know we need to find Yachiyo-San, Kuroe-Chan? What if we actually just need to find a McGuffin?” Madoka asked.

“If my assumption is correct, we’re in the Magia Record manga adaptation. The manga isn’t far enough into the story to have a McGuffin of any sorts, and since every universe we’ll visit has to serve a purpose, that must mean we’re gonna recruit a teammate, and since Felicia-Chan said we should recruit Yachiyo-San, there’s literally only two possible outcomes; either we recruit Yachiyo-San no matter how hard we try to recruit someone else, or we actually try to recruit Yachiyo-San, but end up recruit someone else. Therefore, no matter what we do, if we try to recruit Yachiyo-San, something will happen, so I think we should go and recruit her. That way we can move on without wasting too much time.”

Kuroe turned around, and immediately found a halberd’s end pointed at her throat. She raised her hands so that she wouldn’t get stabbed immediately.

Yachiyo Nanami was standing with a defiant look on her face, one that would’ve created a terrifying atmosphere if she wasn’t black & white, Madoka wasn’t lying on the front of the car, and Felicia-Chan wasn’t busy scratching her butt.

“Guys… A little help here…?” Kuroe said, trying to get Madoka and Felicia-Chan to help her already.

“Sorry, Kuroe-Chan, but it’s so cold, and the hood of the car is so warm… It’s so nice and warm…” Madoka said while lying on the hood of the car, eventually falling asleep, after which, she begun snoring.

“Sorry, Cloak, but I don’t mess with Yachiyo-San. She’s too scary, even for me.” Felicia-Chan said, pulling a chair out of nowhere and sitting on it.

“State your business, or prepare to be skewered.” Yachiyo said, an annoyed look on her face.

“Relax already will ya? How about you put that thing down, and we have a nice talk?” Kuroe said, trying her best to not look threatening, and to not get skewered.

Yachiyo simply brought the halberd’s head closer to Kuroe’s neck.

“What are you doing in this city? If you don’t state your business right now, I’ll send you back to your city in a body bag.” Yachiyo said with a fierce look on her face.

Kuroe gulped. “Please put that thing down. It’s not good for my blood preSSURE!” Kuroe yelled the last bit, as the halberd’s head was now touching her throat. “OK, OK, I GET THE MESSAGE! YOU DON’T LIKE LOOSE PEOPLE! LISTEN, WE ONLY CAME HERE TO ASK FOR HELP FROM A MAGICAL GIRL, THAT’S ALL!” Kuroe said in a squeaky voice, trying to not get stabbed.

Yachiyo looked into Kuroe’s eyes, and Kuroe could feel how her eyes were piercing straight through her. Yachiyo wasn’t looking at Kuroe. She was looking at Kuroe’s soul. After 1 minute of staring, Yachiyo sighed and lowered her Halberd. Kuroe breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, why do you three need help?” Yachiyo asked.

Kuroe was about to explain, but Felicia-Chan beat her to it.

“Magia Record’s getting cancelled, so we’re getting reinforcements for when we raid Aniplex’s offices in order to convince them to un-cancel it.” Felicia-Chan said nonchalantly.

“WHAT!?!? IT’S GETTING CANCELLED?” Yachiyo yelled, a look of genuine panic on her face.

“Huh. I did not think it would actually scare her this much. Neat.” Felicia-Chan said.

“This isn’t good. I need to warn Iroha and get out of here, maybe we’ll be able to escape…” Yachiyo muttered to herself.

“You do know we’re part of a story based mobile game, right? If we get cancelled, we’ll only be remembered through YouTube videos and outdated Wikipedia entries. There’s nowhere to run. We’re going to be forgotten.” Felicia-Chan said.

“Forgotten…?” Yachiyo said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. A look of horror was in her eyes as she realized what it meant. She was essentially going to die. Her face grew pale as she began to hyperventilate. She felt dizzy.

“This isn’t good. Someone catch her!” Kuroe said, but it was too late, as Yachiyo blacked out and collapsed to the floor.

xxx

When Yachiyo woke up, her head hurt like hell. She sat up and rubbed her head.

“Ita... What happened…?” Yachiyo muttered.

“You went through a small existential crisis and blacked out. You hit your head pretty hard on the ground, but aside from a mild concussion, you should be fine. You think you can stand up?” Kuroe asked Yachiyo, crouching down next to her.

“Yeah, just give me a second…” Yachiyo sighed. In actuality, she felt fantastic, like she could break out into song and dance, but she didn’t want to even sit up. She didn’t really understand why, but for some reason, sleeping on the ground felt really comfortable to Yachiyo.

It took Yachiyo about 10 seconds to realize that sleeping on the ground was not comfortable, as her entire body ached. That is, except for her head, which felt as if it was resting on the softest, most comfortable pillow ever. Yachiyo closed her eyes, then, she heard a soft giggle.

Yachiyo opened her eyes and looked above her, where she saw Madoka. It took Yachiyo a few seconds to realize the implications of that, and when she realized said implications, she immediately stood up, her face burning bright red.

“They’re so cute when they’re embarrassed…” Madoka said, a mischievous smile on her face.

Yachiyo had an expression of slight discomfort on her face, which resulted in Madoka’s mischievous smile only growing bigger. However, her smile turned into a pained expression as Kuroe smacked her on the back of her head.

“Ita… Mou, Kuroe-Chan, why’d you do that?” Madoka asked, tears in her eyes.

“Why are you so lewd?” Kuroe asked.

“What? Am I not allowed to be lewd? I have my own feelings, rights and desires! If I want to be lewd, I’ll be lewd!” Madoka said.

“You’re 14! You’re not supposed to be this lewd! At most, you’re supposed to blush and rub your thighs a bit, maybe breath heavily!” Kuroe yelled at Madoka.

“I’m a god! Human age standards don’t apply to me! And even if they did, by human measurements, I’m as old as the universe itself!” Madoka said.

“You might be as old as the universe itself, but you’ve still got the body and sexual mentality of a 14-year-old. You’re not supposed to be ogling girls 5 years older than you!” Kuroe said back.

“5 years older than me… Wait, Yachiyo-San, you’re 19?!?!?!” Madoka said, a surprised expression on her face.

“Yeah. Why’re you surprised?” Yachiyo asked.

“Well, ummm…” Madoka’s eyes visibly drifted towards Yachiyo’s chest.

“Oi. If you’ve got anything to say about my figure, say it to my face.” Yachiyo said while rolling her sleeves up, a dead-calm expression on her face.

“YOU’VE GOT NICE BIRTHING HIPS!” Madoka yelled out in panic, which made Yachiyo literally expel steam out of her ears from sheer embarrassment.

“I…I’ve got nice hips? No one’s ever told me that before… Everyone just kinda strokes my legs like some weirdo… something about incredibly long legs… Thank you…” Yachiyo said, awkwardly twiddling her thumbs.

“She’s not supposed to be this unconfident, right?” Kuroe asked Felicia-Chan.

“No. Usually she’s the embodiment of ‘take names, kick ass’, and she takes shit from nobody. Maybe this one is a bit different? IDK. Anyway, she had one moment of badassness, she without a doubt has more of them. Let’s take her!” Felicia-Chan said in excitement.

“Take me…?” Yachiyo asked, her face even redder now.

Kuroe facepalmed herself.

“Guys, please stop talking. You’re giving Yachiyo-San all the wrong ideas.”

“What? Is it really that bad for her to know that we want her?” Madoka asked in a seductive tone.

Yachiyo lost about 2 full liters of blood from her nose.

“Kaname-Senpai…” Kuroe said, her voice seething with anger.

“Hai, hai! I’ll fix her, just please don’t kill me!” Madoka said, looking pretty terrified.

Madoka snapped her fingers, and the color returned to Yachiyo’s face.

“Anyway, Yachiyo-San, we need your help to save Magia Record and what not. You willing to help us?” Kuroe said.

“Sure. Why not. I mean, if I don’t, I have a feeling the world will end, so there’s no real reason to take things like schedules and such into account. I’m all yours.” Yachiyo said with a smile on her face.

“Great. Let’s get out of here, but first…” Kuroe paused dramatically, a serious look on her face.

“Yeah, what is it?” Yachiyo asked.

“Do you think there’s a bathroom nearby? I need to pee.” Kuroe said with an awkward smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, basically, before I started posting this story, I had some chapters finished, and I told myself that I'd post one finished chapter every week until I ran out of pre-made chapters, then I'd go into a "hiatus" until the next chapter was finished, then immediately post it, but I can't bring myself to do it. I want to post things for you guys as early as possible, which is why I posted chapter 3 now instead of in a few days, and why I'll be starting the "hiatus" now. There are several other reasons, those being:  
> 1) This story isn't actually all that long. I don't know how long it's gonna be, but I doubt it's gonna be any longer then 8 chapters (now watch me eat my words because it'll easily exceed 8 chapters), so there's no real reason to delay chapters.  
> 2) There's like, 2 other stories I'm writing while writing this, one of them has a submission time limit (because it's for a contest), and I'm not really good at multitasking story writing priorities, so I want to get this one finished while still making it as good as possible.  
> 3) Last but not least, after a short vacation, I am back to school, this time lessons happening using ZOOM (again), which is why I want to use up as much free time as I can possibly have before test season starts and what not.
> 
> TL;DR  
> I'm writing other stories and I kinda suck at multitasking work priorities, school started again and this story also isn't gonna be that long, which is why chapters will be released when they're ready, instead of being written in advance and released on a schedule.


	4. Felixty Minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they are four (AKA a full party), Kuroe and Madoka go full speed ahead at... Going to random places! Will said random places be interesting? (No). Will the jokes be funny? (Definitely no). Will there be ANY plot progression? (Not really. This is a filler chapter). Find out next time when I decide to publish the next chapter!

“Wait. You’re not kidding, Kuroe-San, Kaname-San? I’m actually…?” Yachiyo had an excited look on her face, like a little kid.

“Yes, Nanami-Senpai, you’re actually gonna be able to hear your own voice for the first time ever. The moment we enter the travel tunnel, the rules of the universe that make you mute will stop affecting you, and you’ll finally get to hear your voice.” Kuroe replied.

“I can’t believe I’ll finally get to hear my voice!” Yachiyo squealed.

“Wait. I thought you CAN hear voices.” Madoka asked.

“Only if they’re described in speech bubbles. If not, then I don’t know how anyone sounds like.” Yachiyo explained.

“Really? Then how does Iroha sound like, Yachiyo-San?” Felicia-Chan asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure her voice is the most beautiful thing in the world…” Yachiyo stated, a dream look in her eyes.

“Are there any voices you hate?” Kuroe asked.

“Aqua.” Yachiyo simply replied, a sour look in her eyes.

“Aqua? As in, the KonoSuba character?” Madoka asked.

“Exactly. God, I hate her stupid, whining, bratty voice. Makes me want to punch her in the face.” Yachiyo explained, her look only souring further.

Kuroe and Madoka looked at each other.

“Do you want to tell her, or should I tell her?” Kuroe asked Madoka.

“I think we should just show her.” Madoka replied.

“Show me what? What is it?” Yachiyo asked.

Kuroe simply pulled out her smartphone and googled something. She then handed her phone over for Yachiyo to read.

As Yachiyo read what she saw in the Wikipedia article, her face contorted in anger more and more.

“DAMN YOU, SORA AMAMIYA!” Yachiyo yelled, finally hearing her voice for the first time in her life.

“I think we should start moving.” Madoka said.

“Agreed.” Kuroe said, inputting random coordinates and slamming down the gas pedal.

“I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL HER!” Yachiyo kept on raging as they exited the tunnel into a new universe.

As the new universe manifested before the four, they exited the car and looked around them. They were surrounded by rocky terrain, in the middle of the night, with flashes of bright light going off around them constantly.

“I’LL kill her! I’ll kill her! I’ll find her, and make her un-useless! I swear to god!” Yachiyo yelled at the sky, drawing unwanted attention to the 4.

“Nanami-Senpai, I realize you’re pissed, but there’s a time and place for everything, but not now! We need to figure out where we are!” Kuroe yelled at Yachiyo, who finally shut up, thank god.

Yachiyo’s screeching, however, was replaced with another loud sound. The sound of metal crashing into metal, to be more precise.

The 4 turned around, and saw 2 Gundam like robots fighting. The robots were punching, shooting, blasting and generally just trying to murder each other. And from the chaos, arose an ear-piercing sound.

“ERNESTA!!!!!”

A sound so horrible, it made the 4 magical girls cover their ears in an attempt to block said sound out.

“ERNESTA!!!!!”

A sound that seemed like it was coming from the depths of hades itself, that made the hands covering their ears bleed from the sheer strength and horribleness of the sound.

**“ERNESTA!!!!!!!”**

The sound, of the literal, physical manifestation of a rage boner.

Unable to take it anymore, Kuroe looked at the 3 other magical girls and yelled one word.

 **“CAR!”** Kuroe yelled, trying to be heard over the diabolical sound. Fortunately, she was, and the 4 magical girls entered the DeLorean. The moment Kuroe was behind the wheel, she slammed down the gas pedal to the best of her abilities while still covering her ears, and the car shot forward into the travel tunnel that opened before them.

Inside the travel tunnel, each of the 4 magical girls was coping with what they’ve just heard in different ways: Kuroe was taking deep breaths, Yachiyo was lying on her back, her head in her hands, Felicia-Chan was screaming into the pillow of her seat, and Madoka was sucking on her thumb in a fetal position.

Yachiyo was the first one to recover, and she broke the silence with a question. “So, what the hell was that…?”

Kuroe looked at her, still taking deep breaths. “The principal of hatred dictates that the hotter a character is, the bigger of a bitch she is.” Kuroe told Yachiyo with a straight face, which just caused Yachiyo to give her a look of confusion. Kuroe sighed and dumbed down the explanation.

“That’s the main bitch from GRANBELM. She has a rage boner for ‘Ernesta’. Can we move on?” Kuroe asked.

“Not before you give us a MAL score!” Madoka replied.

“I don’t have a MAL score for GRANBELM. Haven’t finished it yet.” Kuroe stated.

The 4 magical girls looked at each other with looks of confusion.

“What the hell did we just say?” Felicia-Chan asked.

“No idea. Anyway, where are we going next?” Kuroe answered.

Madoka was about to open her mouth, but Kuroe stopped her before she could.

“AND NO, ‘BURGER KING’ IS **NOT** A VIABLE ANSWER.” Madoka’s face was devoid of all life.

“Let’s just input random coordinates again.” Felicia-Chan suggested.

“No. Last time we inputted random coordinates… Well, what happened 5 seconds ago speaks for itself.” Yachiyo said.

“So. Any suggestions?” Kuroe asked again.

“The world of KonoSuba. I want to murder Aqua.” Yachiyo replied nonchalantly.

“Yeah, we’re definitely not doing that!” Kuroe yelled, which made Yachiyo pout.

“Screw it. Interdimensional cable.” Kuroe said, messing with the dashboard.

“What’s that?” Felicia-Chan asked, sounding intrigued.

“We input random coordinates and see what happens.” Kuroe said, not really paying attention to the other 3 magical girls.

“How is that different from what we just did?!?!?” Yachiyo asked.

“Because this is a Rick and Morty reference.” Kuroe replied, inputting random coordinates.

“I thought this entire journey was a Rick and Morty reference.” Madoka said.

“Yeah, same.” Felicia-Chan said.

“I would not be surprised if that was true.” Yachiyo stated.

The 3 magical girls looked at Kuroe, waiting in anticipation for her answer. Waiting… And waiting… And waiting, until…

“KUROE-CHAN!” Madoka suddenly yelled, which caused Kuroe to flinch.

“Yes?!?! What?” Kuroe replied, trying her best to hide the fact that she was totally spacing out just now.

“Is this entire journey a Rick and Morty reference or not?” Yachiyo asked, her tone implying that she was starting to run out of patience.

“Of course not. It’s much more than JUST a Rick and Morty reference. We’re referencing a lot of other things as well.” Kuroe explained, confirming the random coordinates and smashing the gas pedal.

“Now, buckle up, we’re moving!”

As the car exited the tunnel, the 4 magical girls exited the car, the bright sun around them blinding them.

“Where… Are we?” Madoka asked.

Kuroe looked around and saw lush, green meadows. In one direction, she saw a thick forest, and in the other one, she saw a small town, with a massive wall surrounding it. Kuroe took a deep breath, feeling the clean, outdoors air filling up her lungs, calming her anxious mind.

“I don’t know, but… I like this place. It’s really zen.” Kuroe said, smiling for the first time in a while. A warm, genuine smile.

Seeing Kuroe’s smile, Madoka grabbed her chest, feeling her heart ache.

“Kaname-Senpai, is everything OK!?!?!” Kuroe asked, a distressed look on her face.

“Your smile… It’s just… Too cute… Blergh!” Madoka said melodramatically, faking a faint. Kuroe’s look turned sour, which caused Madoka to yell about the world’s unforgiving cruelty.

“Guys, I think I know where we are.” Felicia-Chan said, pointing to a sign on the front of the town’s gate.

Kuroe’s gaze focused on the sign, and on it, she could read the town’s name.

“Axel town…” Kuroe muttered.

She moved to stop Yachiyo, but before she could, Yachiyo was already on her way to the town.

“AQUA!!!” Yachiyo yelled while running towards the town at full speed, a furious expression on her face.

Madoka and Kuroe sighed and facepalmed.

“Let’s go get her.” Kuroe said.

“Before she kills someone.” Madoka added.

“Yippee!” Felicia-Chan chimed in.

While Felicia-Chan was happily skipping along leisurely, Madoka and Kuroe both dragged their feet towards the town, exasperated looks on their faces.

xxx

Satou Kazuma was simply enjoying a leisurely stroll throughout the streets of Axel. The sun was bright and warm. The birds were chirping. The streets were bustling, full of chatter. ‘Such a perfect day…’ Kazuma thought to himself.

He immediately regretted thinking that, as the only thing truly stopping his day from being perfect awoke him from his trance. To be more precise, there were two things.

“Kazuma, Kazuma!” Megumin said on his right, while Darkness was shaking his left arm. Despite the fact that Kazuma tried to lay it on rather thick that he wanted to be alone on his stroll, the 2 girls were unfortunately just as thick, and couldn’t take the hint. Also, for some reason, even though he was only wearing a simple shirt and pants, with nothing but his trustworthy partner, Chunchunmaru by his side, the 2 girls insisted to wear full adventuring gear, for some reason. Kazuma sighed. He could never figure out his party members. Not because they were mysterious or clever; quite the opposite. They were often so obvious and stupid that he honestly sometimes wondered if this was just a part of some hidden camera show. Well, he wondered, right until some monster tried to kill him. Then he remembered that it wasn’t a hidden camera show, his luck just sucks.

As Megumin and Darkness kept bugging Kazuma, trying to get his attention, he felt his patience being worn down, until he finally exploded.

“…ARGH! WHAT? WHAT DO YOU WANT!?!?!?! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT I’M TRYING TO ENJOY A **QUIET** STROLL!?!??! EMPHASIS ON THE ‘QUIET’ PART! IF YOU’VE GOT ANYTHING TO SAY, KEEP IT FOR WHEN WE’RE BACK HOME, BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL KNOW THAT IT’S NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH THAT IT WARRANTS MY ATTENTION AT THIS VERY SECOND!” He yelled at the two girls, his spit flying forwards. He knew that he was probably drawing some unwanted attention to himself, but he was just trying to enjoy his stroll. He didn’t really care about what other people thought about him at this very moment. Megumin looked somewhat hurt, while Darkness’ face burned red. She shivered, rubbed her thighs together, groaned, muttered something about “the shame!” and then calmed down.

“Well, it’s just that Aqua’s been trying to catch up to us…” Darkness said with an awkward look on her face. She pointed behind her with her thumb. Kazuma looked behind her and Megumin and saw Aqua crawling towards the 3 on all four. When she reached Kazuma, she grabbed his pants and shook them.

“Kazuma-San! Kazuma-San! Help me! Please! Someone’s trying to murder me! I didn’t even do anything this time, they just tried to murder me! Please help me!” Aqua begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. Megumin and Darkness looked distressed. Meanwhile, Kazuma just looked down at Aqua in disgust.

‘Yeah, like I’ll believe such a farfetched claim, you useless goddess! You’re probably twisting facts in your favor in order to get out of debt or something. And even if that’s not the case, you’re so stupid, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did do something, but you just haven’t figured it out yet! Like hell I’m risking myself for you! I’m enjoying a stroll, deal with this yourself!’ Kazuma thought to himself, his look of disgust only intensifying.

“What’s with that look, huh?!?!!? Aren’t you our leader? Isn’t it the party leader’s duty to protect his party members!!?!??! Help me!” Aqua said, tugging on Kazuma’s pants even harder.

“Oh, so now you respect my authority as party leader!?!??! Where was all that respect all those times you put us in debt!?!?! Hell, I’m sure you’re in debt this time as well, and you’re just trying to get away from the debt collectors, aren’t you!?!?!” Kazuma yelled at Aqua, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt and shaking her.

Before Aqua could reply, a halberd flew right next to her and Kazuma, cutting their shirts’ sleeves, moving past them and getting stuck in the wall behind them.

Kazuma looked back at the halberd that was now stuck in the wall, still holding Aqua by the collar. The dark blue halberd dissipated into blue sparks, leaving nothing but a small hole in the wall.

“See?!?!? I told you someone was trying to kill me! Now come on, please, help me already, Kazuma-San!” Aqua yelled.

Kazuma looked behind Aqua and saw the origin of the halberd. It was a tall, slender girl, with long, dark blue hair. She looked like she was about university age. She was wearing a dark blue, Chinese style dress, and a weird head ornament with strings on her head. She had a small, white breastplate with gold lining, that merged into shoulder guards of the same color. In her right hand, she held a halberd that was identical to the one that almost killed Kazuma and Aqua, and on her face, there was a furious expression. Kazuma gulped.

“Stand behind me.” Kazuma told Aqua.

“Ehh?” Aqua asked, a surprised look on her face.

“Stand behind me.” Kazuma repeated, his voice firmer.

“Really? Thank you! Thank you, Kazuma-San! Thank you! I promise, when all of this is done, I will give you my blessing!” Aqua said, now groveling behind the safety of Kazuma’s… Well, behind.

“I don’t want your blessing. Just promise me you won’t get into ANY debt for at least one week, OK?” He asked, a nervous smile on his face. Aqua nodded in confirmation.

Kazuma looked at his opponent again, and realized that he had no actual idea why he was protecting Aqua. The girl looked super strong, and Kazuma had a suspicious feeling that she could easily wipe the floor with him. Usually, he would just let Aqua handle this on her own, knowing full well that she’ll find some way out of the situation. However, for some reason, Kazuma felt a need to protect Aqua. He felt a need to prove he was competent. Perhaps the fact that Aqua admitted that he was their party leader awoke some feeling of responsibility towards his teammates, even the annoying ones, that he hadn’t really felt ever since his days back in Japan, raiding monsters with his party mates on MMORPGs. Kazuma felt tense. He tried to come up with a plan, but couldn’t come up with nothing.

‘Well, when the plans don’t come… bullshit your way out of things until Eris helps you out.’ He thought to himself, sighing.

“So, how are you this fine day, random stranger?” Kazuma asked, a smile on his face.

“Move.” The girl simply replied.

“The weather’s really nice, huh?”

“Move.”

“It would be such a shame to spill someone’s blood on this – “

“Move.”

“Oi. Now that was just rude. What do you even want from my teammate anyway?”

“I’m gonna kill her for the atrocities she has committed against me.” The girl said with a furious growl.

Kazuma turned back to look at Aqua, a displeased look on his face.

“Oi. She says you committed some atrocities against her. What happened to ‘I didn’t even do anything this time’?” Kazuma asked.

“Really, I didn’t do anything, I swear!” Aqua whined.

“Are you sure you didn’t just do something, but you’re too stupid to realize it?” Kazuma retorted, an unimpressed look on his face.

“100%! I’ve never even met this girl before! I don’t know what she wants from me. Please help me, Kazuma!” Aqua begged.

Kazuma sighed and looked at the girl again.

“May I know why you want to kill my teammate?” He asked the girl, hoping he could resolve this conflict peacefully.

“Her voice is unbearably annoying and grating, so I decided the best way to fix that was to make sure she’ll never be able to speak again.”

“Eh…? EH!?!?!?” All of Kazuma’s party said, a look of disbelief on their faces.

“So, let me get this straight. You want to kill her… Because her voice is annoying?” Kazuma massaged his temples, still trying to grasp the absurd stupidity of the situation he just entered. The girl simply nodded in response.

“All right. Have fun, Aqua!” Kazuma said, pushing Aqua to stand in front of him, continuing with his walk. Aqua was unable to even respond, a look of complete and utter hopelessness on her face.

“Now, let’s kill you nice and slow, shall we…?” The girl said, a terrifying look on her face. As she approached Aqua, she dragged her halberd’s pointed end against the wall of a house, the action creating a horrible sound, like a blade on a chalkboard. Aqua inched further and further away, until…

“Excuse me, but I would rather you leave my friend alone peacefully, instead of us starting a brawl here.” Darkness said, standing between Aqua and the girl.

“Absolute Rain.”

“Yeah, I’m sure we can solve this peacefully – wait. What did you just say?” Darkness asked. The girl pointed her halberd at Darkness, then, a barrage of halberds flew towards her, crashing into her, sending her flying into the wall behind her.

Kazuma and Megumin looked at Darkness in horror. She wasn’t hurt. There wasn’t even a single scratch on her. But that’s not what bothered them.

“She… Knocked Darkness back…” Megumin muttered.

Kazuma didn’t think such a feat was even theoretically possible, let alone physically. Weighing his options for a few seconds, he chose the best logical conclusion.

“Well, can’t say it’s been nice to know you, Aqua, but we wish you good luck! Bye!” Kazuma said, trying to drag Megumin away by her cloak. Unfortunately, he couldn’t even drag a petite girl like her.

“Now… Time to die…” The girl said, plunging her halberd down towards Aqua’s face… Right until she got punched in the back of her head.

The halberd disappeared out of Yachiyo’s hand as she grabbed her aching head in her hands and looked behind her, where she saw Kuroe, who had an angry expression on her face.

“Kuroe-Chan, come on, just let me kill her! Please!?!?” Yachiyo said with puppy eyes.

“No.” Kuroe replied, unimpressed.

“Come on, it’ll only take me a few months!”

“That’s not making your case any better!”

“Fine, then I won’t torture her! It’ll only take me 1 day!”

“No!”

“3 hours?”

“NO!”

“1 minute?”

“ **NO!** ”

“But I have to! I have to, or I won’t be able to sleep at night! Please, let me! Hey, Kuroe-Chan, let me go! Stop dragging me! Stop it!” Yachiyo struggled as Kuroe dragged her back to the car by the back of the collar of her shirt.

Still marching forward, Kuroe’s head turned back. There was a vacant expression in her eyes.

“Please, forgive me.” She said to Kazuma.

“Yeah…” He replied.

After the 2 girls left, Kazuma let out a sigh of relief.

“Y’know, Kazuma, I think I finally understand how you feel when we sometimes do stupid things.” Megumin said, looking at Kazuma apologetically.

“Good to know. Now come on, let’s get Darkness back to the mansion.” Kazuma said with a smile, him and Megumin carrying the knocked-out Darkness back to the mansion.

Meanwhile, Aqua was lying on the ground in a fetal position in the middle of the street.

xxx

“So, I realize that MAYBE I did some… slightly unreasonable things…” Yachiyo said awkwardly while trying to maintain an innocent expression.

“Correction: You tried to murder a deity, which is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen, and it’s LITERALLY only rivaled by telling someone that her girlfriend/boyfriend is ugly. Honestly, if Aqua wasn’t so kind, you’d already be dead meat.” Kuroe replied, an angry expression on her face.

“Correction: Aqua isn’t kind, she’s just so useless that even if I stood completely still and didn’t resist at all, she couldn’t kill me in a million years.” Yachiyo said smugly, until she saw Kuroe’s expression, at which point she meekly inched away from her. “I’ll just shut up now…” She said weakly. “That sounds like a great idea.” Kuroe nodded.

Meanwhile in the backseat, Madoka lightly tapped Felicia-Chan’s shoulder in order to get her attention. After she did, Madoka said “find a way to end this awkward silence”. Felicia-Chan nodded in reply, and proceeded to end the awkward silence in the most awkward way possible.

“Neh, Cloak, can you play some music?” Felicia-Chan said, a smug expression on her face, which was contrasted by Madoka’s expression of complete and utter hopelessness towards the human race.

Kuroe simply pushed a button next to the radio, after which, Japanese rock music started blaring out of the speakers.

“Seriously? Endoh Masaki?” Madoka asked judgmentally.

“Listen, when you’re traveling alone, you don’t need to respect other people’s desires, and I take advantage of that to play whatever music I want.” Kuroe said defensively.

“But why?” Felicia-Chan asked.

“Because rock music is awesome.”

“But why **him?** ” Yachiyo asked what the 3 magical girls really wanted to ask.

“Endoh Masaki is a living legend, and his music is awesome.” The 3 magical girls gave Kuroe an unconvinced look.

Kuroe eventually gave up and weakly added another part. “And ‘Clear Mind’ is an amazing song…” She said.

“Just… Turn it off.” Yachiyo said, placing her hand on Kuroe’s shoulder in order to comfort her. In actuality, Kuroe just felt that Yachiyo was crushing her shoulder with her insane magical girl strength. Kuroe reluctantly turned the music off.

“So, what now?” Madoka asked.

“…Fuck it. Burger King.” Kuroe said, inputting the coordinates and flooring the gas pedal.

“Really? THANK YOU, KUROE-CHAN!” Madoka said with tears in her eyes. She hugged Kuroe, ‘accidentally’ smothering her in the process.

“I think you’re exaggerating a bit, Kaname-Senpai…” Kuroe grunted through Madoka’s chest.

“You don’t get it. I’ve been starving for the last 2 chapters… Arigato, Kuroe-Chan…” Madoka kept on crying.

“…I’ll just replace you as the driver, Kuroe-Chan…” Yachiyo said awkwardly as she changed seats with Kuroe, and took care of driving the 4 to their destination.


	5. Attack on Aniplex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After resting up a bit (and spending an unspecified amount of time at a Burger King joint), the girls are finally ready to finish this. They've decided that this is the time, and that their endgame is near. The attack on Aniplex begins!

“So…” Kuroe said, giving Madoka, Felicia-Chan and Yachiyo an impatient look.

“Just a few more seconds.” Madoka said while shoving French fries down her gullet.

“It’s not like we’re rushing anywhere.” Felicia-Chan said with 5 Chicken Tenders in each hand.

“Yeah. Plus, we’ve only now started eating.” Yachiyo said, with a big, hearty, burger in her hands.

“Yeah, you’ve just now started eating… Your 15th meal!” Kuroe said, a rather annoyed look on her face.

The 3 magical looked at each other as if they couldn’t understand what bothered Kuroe so much.

“Hey, I said I was starving, didn’t I?” Madoka said.

“I’m only 13. I’m still growing.” Felicia-Chan excused.

“In height, or width?” Kuroe muttered sarcastically.

“…I like food.” Yachiyo said as the only one without even a semi-legitimate excuse.

“Still, don’t you feel kinda bad for the kitchen employees?” Kuroe asked, trying to tug at the girls’ heartstrings, so that they would finish their eating streak.

“They’re working the night shift. Plus, I don’t think they really care, as long we’re paying them.” Madoka said with a mouth full of French fries. Or, at the very least, she attempted to say that. Nobody could really understand what she said.

Kuroe looked at the 3 for a few more seconds, then simply sighed in exasperation.

“Screw it. I’m waiting in the car.” Kuroe said as she stood up and marched towards the car.

“What are you gonna do in there?” Felicia-Chan asked.

“What do you think? Finish Naruto!” Kuroe yelled back as she exited the Burger King joint.

The 3 girls looked at each other.

“Maybe you should also start One Piece why’ll you’re at it!” Madoka added. Kuroe groaned. The 3 girls laughed and then smiled at each other.

xxx

When the 3 magical girls finally exited the Burger King joint and headed towards the car, they felt totally stuffed. They had no idea how long they’ve been inside; all they knew was that they probably kept Kuroe waiting for quite a while. However, their estimations… Well…

“I’m telling you. At most, we were in there for a day. She was just exaggerating.” Felicia-Chan said.

“I have to agree with Felicia-Chan here. Sure, we ate a lot, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we were in there for more than a few hours. I think that even a day is stretching it by a bit, but then again, we did eat a LOT, so maybe it isn’t really stretching it…” Yachiyo said.

“I don’t know. I have a weird feeling about that. I think we should check with Kuroe. Something about this seems odd.” Madoka said.

As the three reached the car, Madoka felt a pit growing in her stomach. There were no lights inside the car, and the engine wasn’t running.

“The engine isn’t on… She wouldn’t just turn it off for no reason… Kuroe-Chan!” Madoka yelled, feeling distress.

“Calm down there, Pink Hair. Don’t you think you’re exaggerating? The car’s still here, right? There’s no way that Cloak would let anyone drag her away from the car. That thing is like her baby.” Felicia-Chan said, trying to soothe Madoka.

Madoka opened the door to the driver’s seat, and she saw Kuroe sleeping in the front passerby seat, wrapped in a blanket. Kuroe took in long, deep breaths, her expression peaceful.

“Too cute!” Madoka yelled, recoiling back in almost fear of the cuteness of what she was seeing in front of her.

“I think you’re exaggerating a bit, Pink Hair.” Felicia-Chan said, a disgruntled expression on her face.

“No, Felicia-Chan. Kaname-San is 100% correct! Kuroe-San looks really similar to Iroha, and Iroha looks adorable when she’s asleep, therefore, Kuroe-San looks adorable when she’s asleep!” Yachiyo said while nodding her head, a serious expression on her face, as if she was discussing quantum mechanics, and not, y’know, whether a girl looks cute when she’s asleep or not.

Felicia-Chan simply looked at the two in disbelief and muttered to herself. “I’m starting to understand why Cloak is the responsible one among the 3 adults here…”

Kuroe slowly shifted around as her eyes opened. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then turned to look at the 3 girls.

“Hmm…? Kaname-Senpai? Is everything OK? You have a really weird look on your face…” Kuroe said sleepily.

“Shh… Everything’s OK… Just go back to sleep…” Madoka said, resting Kuroe’s head on her lap, patting her on the head. Kuroe’s face burned a bright red.

“K-Kaname-Senpai! What about you and Akemi-Senpai…?” Kuroe said, pulling away from Madoka.

The realization of what she just did slowly dawned on Madoka, a look of stupefying terror on her face.

“Please forgive me, Homura-Chan.” Madoka said quietly as she furiously bowed towards no direction in particular, a look of shame on her face.

‘ _Scary!_ ’ thought both Felicia-Chan and Yachiyo as they saw how Madoka acted.

“Say, who’s this ‘Akemi-Senpai’, Kuroe-San?” Yachiyo asked.

Kuroe yawned, stretched, looked Yachiyo in the eyes, then answered. “She’s Kaname-Senpai’s ex.”

“That’s rough, buddy.” Yachiyo said, giving Madoka a pat on the back.

“She’s also the devil!” Madoka said cheerfully.

“OK, considering I had a pretty obsessive ex, I think I have full right to say this, but… Saying that is a BIT harsh, don’t you think, Kaname-San?” Yachiyo said, an awkward smile on her face.

“No, she’s not exaggerating. Her ex is LITERALY the devil. Like, biblical, deal striking, ‘I rule hell’ devil.” Kuroe said, making herself a cup of coffee.

“EH!?!?!?” Felicia-Chan and Yachiyo yelled out.

“Pink Hair, you DATED the DEVIL!?!?!?” Felicia-Chan asked, a surprised look on her face.

“Well, I love her. Plus, in my defense, before she was the devil, she was an ordinary teenager.” Madoka said with a smile on her face, not realizing how what she was saying was not helping her case.

“If she was a normal teenager, then how did she become the devil!?!?!” Yachiyo asked, making sure that she heard what Madoka said correctly.

“Well…” Madoka said awkwardly, twiddling her thumbs. “Listen, this is kinda embarrassing, so please don’t judge me…”

“It’s fine. This is a safe place.” Yachiyo said in a reassuring tone.

“Alright… Well, the reason she became the devil was because… I MAY have tried to liberate her soul so that she wouldn’t become a witch, but she took advantage of that in order to steal my godly power, and that turned her into the devil. She then proceeded to use said power in order to rewrite the universe into one where I never knew any of my friends, I didn’t have any of my powers or memories, and by rewriting the universe, she defied my wish to save all magical girls, even if it cost me my own life…” Madoka said, looking down in embarrassment.

She looked up, and saw that Felicia-Chan and Yachiyo had unimpressed, borderline disgusted looks on their faces.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it.” Madoka said, feeling offended.

“No. You need these looks. Trust me.” Yachiyo said in a neutral tone.

“What she said.” Felicia-Chan added.

Their looks only intensified.

“What happened to ‘this is a safe place’?!?!??!” Madoka yelled, tears flowing from her eyes.

“Listen, Kaname-San, I don’t know how to tell you this, but what you described really sounds less like love, and more like attempts at gaslighting and manipulating from your ex’s side. Trust me, I would know. My ex was EXACTLY like that.” Yachiyo said, sighing when Madoka only cried harder.

“ _sniff_ but… _sniff_ but… Homura-Chan cared about me! She cared about me so much that she did everything to save me, even if it meant pushing away my friends, and restricting my freedom, and visiting me at my home before I even knew her, like some creep!” Madoka yelled out, her reply only causing Yachiyo’s and Felicia-Chan’s looks to change from those of disgust to those of genuine worry and disbelief.

“No, that’s just normal behavior for obsessive stalkers.” Yachiyo said.

“Yeah, I’ve never really BEEN in a relationship, and even I can tell that those kinds of actions are messed up.” Felicia-Chan added.

“How long were you two even together?” Yachiyo asked, a look of curiosity on her face.

“About 2 years. Why?” Madoka replied innocently.

“With such a dysfunctional relationship, I’m surprised you two survived more than one **week** , let alone 2 full years!” Yachiyo cried out, genuinely unable to grasp how Madoka talked about her ex like she was a normal human being, and not an obsessive stalker.

“Impossible… My relationship was dysfunctional…?” Madoka said quietly, her hands on the ground, stopping her from collapsing face first onto the hard, cold asphalt.

“I think the fact that you’re delusional didn’t exactly help that.” Kuroe said nonchalantly as she finally felt like she was no longer half asleep.

Madoka’s lip quivered as she looked at Kuroe. She then burst out into tears, crying about the realization that her first relationship was a really shitty one.

xxx

“OK, let’s go!” Madoka said cheerfully, a big smile on her face.

“You got over it quickly.” Kuroe said.

“Got over what?” Madoka asked, her smile not wavering.

“Umm, Pink Hair, you DO remember how you were on your knees, crying because your first relationship was with an obsessive stalker, right?” Felicia-Chan asked, finding it hard to believe that Madoka forgot that so quickly.

“Stop. Fucking. Reminding me!” Madoka said while smiling, her left eye twitching.

“So… Where are we going now?” Yachiyo asked, trying to get as far away from the terrifying aura that was radiating off of Madoka.

Kuroe looked out the window and into the distance, her eyes looking as if she was lost deep in thought. Whatever she was thinking about, Yachiyo could only assume it wasn’t pleasant, as the expression on Kuroe’s face was grim.

Yachiyo was about to make sure that Kuroe had actually heard her, but the black-haired girl turned her head to face Yachiyo and answered her question.

“I think it’s time we finished this.”

“Huh? What do you mean, Kuroe-San?” Yachiyo asked, a confused look on her face.

“I mean, it’s time we go to Aniplex’s offices in Chiyoda and make sure they un-cancel the game.”

“OK, but… Why?”, Felicia-Chan said “We don’t exactly have a time limit.”

“It’s… Nothing. I’m just kinda tired. I think we should end this. That’s all.” Kuroe sighed wistfully.

“OK… You’re the boss, Cloak.”

Kuroe simply nodded in return. However, her movements were sluggish. Clumsy. As if she didn’t have any energy left. She had a gloomy look in her eyes.

“Kuroe-Chan… Is everything OK?” Madoka said, her ferocious aura dissipated as her anger was replaced with worry for her friend.

“Yeah… I’m just… Sorta tired. Listen, can you do me a favor and replace me, Kaname-Senpai? I want to rest a little. Rest my eyes. Clear my head. All of that.”

“Sure…”

“Thanks…” Kuroe said, her fingers massaging her temples, as if she was trying to forcefully wake herself up, unsuccessfully so. She changed places with Madoka and immediately collapsed in the backseat, closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Madoka looked back at Kuroe worriedly. Even though the black-haired girl looked peaceful, her chest rising and descending at a steady pace, Madoka couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong.

“I’m sure she’s fine. Just let her rest for a bit.” Yachiyo said, as if she read Madoka’s mind.

Madoka looked at Yachiyo and saw the girl’s reassuring smile. Madoka tried her best to shake her worries away. She wore an awkward smile on her face as she scratched the back of her head and answered Yachiyo “Yeah. I guess you’re right. There isn’t really anything to worry about.”

Madoka looked out the windshield and inputted the coordinates to Aniplex’s offices in Chiyoda. She hit the gas pedal, the car shooting forward at insane speed, entering the travel tunnel.

“There isn’t anything to worry about…” Madoka muttered to herself, trying to stay concentrated on driving, instead of worrying about her friend.

xxx

For some reason, everything went smooth. Too smooth. Nobody gave them any weird looks as they walked in the lobby with their magical girl outfits. The receptionist immediately knew that they apparently had a meeting with the CEO. They were granted access to his office without anyone watching over them. Because of that, the moment they were face to face with the CEO’s door, none of the 4 girls dared even touching the handle.

“OK, I can’t be the ONLY ONE that thinks this was WAY too easy, right?” Yachiyo asked the other 3, a worried look on her face.

“Yeah. We were lead here without any questions asked, and no one thought it was strange that four teenage girls were walking around the lobby wearing full battle gear. It’s not like they thought we were cosplayers, either. I mean, they KNEW who we were. I realize that this is only something they say in the movies, but this was WAY too easy. Something HAS to be going on here.” Madoka said, confirming everyone’s suspicions.

“Well, only one way to find out.” Kuroe said, grabbing the door handle and turning it.

“OK, I have to admit, this isn’t really all that surprising.” Kuroe said as she saw who was sitting on the CEO’s chair.

‘No, I think that’s just you!’ Felicia-Chan thought to herself, the look on her face saying everything; she couldn’t believe in even a million years that Kuroe saw this twist coming.

“I guess it wouldn’t really surprise you, Kuroe. After all, you’ve been preparing for this day for almost an entire year. It makes sense for you to be able to figure out that I’m the one in charge.” Kyubey said, sitting down on the CEO’s table.

“Wait… The CEO of Aniplex is… Kyubey?!?!?” Madoka asked. She and Yachiyo had extremely confused looks on their faces.

“Not exactly. It seems you don’t have the full picture, Madoka Kaname. Perhaps you should explain the situation to your friends, Kuroe?” Kyubey said, its face expressionless, its voice emotionless.

“Kyubey isn’t the CEO of Aniplex. It was the one who made the final call to cancel Magia Record.” Kuroe said grimly.

“Ara ara, then you should’ve just said so from the beginning, Kuroe-Chan. I’m an expert when it comes to convincing Kyubey.” Madoka said, cracking her knuckles, a sadistic smile on her face.

“It seems you’re still hiding some details, Kuroe. That’s not good. What merits does this conversation have if we don’t know everything?” Kyubey asked, tilting his head sideways in question.

“Huh…? Kuroe-Chan, what is he talking about?” Madoka asked, looking at Kuroe in confusion. ‘Did she hide details from me…? No, Kuroe-Chan would never do that. Unless…’ Madoka shook her head, trying to get rid of all the doubt that was starting to consume at her. Kuroe wouldn’t lie, or omit details, Unless… Unless…

“While it is true that I was the one who decided to shut down Magia Record, saying I did that is misleading. Magia Record in and of itself isn’t closing down. The North American server is ceasing operations because I knew that shutting it down now, after all the Americans invested so much money into it, would create an incredible amount of despair. While it won’t resolve the universe’s entropy problem, it’ll surely get us closer to resolving it.” Kyubey said nonchalantly. Madoka looked at Kuroe, however, the black-haired girl refused to look back, her gaze locked on to her feet.

“So wait… What’s gonna happen to us?” Yachiyo asked.

“All of you will be fine. However, an alternate universe, where all of you speak English, will be erased from existence. The ‘you’ of that universe will die, however, the main ‘you’ will be perfectly fine. There is nothing for you to worry about.”

Yachiyo and Felicia-Chan had looks of horror on their faces as they realized the true implications of what Kyubey just said.

“An entire universe… Full of magical girls, just… Just **gone**? It can’t be… It can’t be… It can’t be…” Yachiyo kept on muttering those three words again and again, for what seemed like an eternity.

Madoka grabbed Kyubey tightly, her grip inflating his head to the size of a balloon. “Bring back the North American server,” She said coldly, the look on her eyes devoid of any and all emotions. “Or I assure you, you’ll think that your infinite bodies are more of a curse then a blessing.”

“Even if I wished to bring back the North American server, I couldn’t. The cancelation was already announced a while ago, and by now, the coders have deleted all the code related to the servers, and saved over the existing files. There is no way to bring that code back anymore, and without it, the game can’t function. However, while we need the despair of humans, we do need for them to live so that they could continue generating despair. While the servers might shut down, we will release something called ‘Gallery Mode’. They’ll be able to see all their precious magical girls whenever they want, even after the end of the service.” Madoka let go of Kyubey, realizing that she really couldn’t do anything.

“If you wish, you may stay here until you feel better. It makes it easier for us to collect your negative emotions.”

One after the other, the magical girls stood up and exited the CEO’s office.

xxx

“So, we came all this way for nothing…” Yachiyo said with her head down as the 4 girls trotted through the parking lot on the way to their car.

“Yeah… We couldn’t change anything… Not cool.” Felicia-Chan added.

“Well, I mean, at least we had fun on the way here, right? It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, right?” Kuroe said, trying to cheer everyone up, but mostly herself. Yachiyo and Felicia-Chan simply looked at her, and when Kuroe saw their crushed spirits, she came to the conclusion that maybe it was time for silence.

The rest of the walk to the car was quiet. As they reached it, everyone extended their hand out toward the door handles dejectedly. Everyone, except for Madoka.

“Everyone… Before we go back home, just one last thing.” The 3 girls turned to face Madoka.

“What is it, Pink Hair?” Felicia-Chan asked, a worried expression on everyone’s face.

As if out of thin air, Madoka pulled out a stack of papers. Everyone’s expression was changed from that of worry to one of curiosity.

“These… Are the production notes.” Madoka said, magically binding the papers into a book, then proceeded to lay it open on the hood of the car for everyone to see. “Not of the game, but of the game’s anime adaptation. I read through them mentally when we were making our way here, and I noticed something interesting. Let me show you.” Madoka said, flipping to the specific page. When she found it, she stopped on it, then showed the title to everyone. Yachiyo’s and Felicia-Chan’s looks changed from intrigue into surprise, and Kuroe’s face turned as pale as paper. “Kuroe Hanazawa… So, I guess you do know your last name.” Madoka said solemnly, her eyes focused only on Kuroe, who simply looked at the ground in shame, and tried her best not to respond. “Another interesting thing I noticed here is this; ‘Character is to remain anime-exclusive for the time being. Whether or not she’ll be added to the game is still being talked about. If she is added to the game, the earliest that will happen will be after the release of chapter 5 of arc 2, in order to allow the writers enough time to incorporate her into the story in a logical way.’” Madoka finished reading the quote. She then grabbed the book and slammed it shut. She turned to face Kuroe, who’s gaze was still locked on the ground.

“You’re not who you say you are, aren’t you? You’re not the real Kuroe.” Madoka said with a flat tone, a neutral expression on her face. Kuroe could only manage nodding her head in confirmation as she fought the tears that were welling up inside of her. Madoka snapped her fingers, and the illusion broke.

Where Kuroe stood a second ago now stood a completely different girl. She was much taller, and didn’t look Japanese at all. Her hair was long and flowing, blonde with cyan and magenta tips. Her eyes were pink, her complexion smooth and pale, looking like milk taken a solid form. She was wearing a big fluffy dress that looked like it was made using a collage of many different fabrics, mostly black, pink and red. Said dress clung to her body thanks to a big, purple ribbon that was tightly knit around her stomach area. She wore two thigh highs that were different in color – one was a creamy white, while the other was a dark pink, with brown-purple horizontal stripes going along it.

While the girl looked like she was usually happy, a big smile constantly plastered on her face, that was not the case right now. She looked down in shame, her shaking physically visible as she could no longer fight the tears. She looked up.

“So… I guess I owe you guys an explanation, right?” She said weakly, tracks of tears already visible as they were flowing down her cheeks.


	6. That Time I Got Reincarnated as an American

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cover of "Kuroe" has been blown. As the 3 magical girls stare her down, she gulps, trying her best to speak through the tears, but her voice betrays her. She knows she has to talk to them, but she doesn't know where to start.  
> So, she goes to the place she'd feel most comfortable explaining stuff in. The place where she can let her guard down, and talk to her friends honestly, for the first time ever.

“Here you go.” The waitress said, laying the plates of crepes down before the magical girls. Felicia-Chan looked at her crepe in awe and wonder, her eyes sparkling. Yachiyo’s expression was that of someone who hasn’t seen food in decades. The blonde girl who pretended to be Kuroe all along had an awkward smile on her face, trying to urge Madoka to eat her crepe. However, Madoka couldn’t even manage to lift up her fork, for a very simple reason.

“Am I the only one that thinks this is a bit tone deaf?” Madoka asked, her tone implying that she was rather displeased with the situation at hand.

“What do you mean?” Asked the blonde girl, also not touching her crepe. Yachiyo and Felicia-Chan simply watched the two talk as they were happily munching down on their sweet pastries.

“I mean, last chapter ended with you bawling your eyes out as we had the dramatic reveal that you’ve been lying to us this entire time. There was even a detailed description and you were visibly shaken and what not, and the way you acted at least somewhat **implied** that we’re not OK with what happened, and we’re gonna be mad at you, but now we’re all sitting here together in a café, eating crepes like nothing’s happened? I don’t know, seems a bit inconsistent to me.” Madoka said, scrutinizing the blonde from up close.

“Well…” The blonde said, trying to not look Madoka in the eyes, which was very difficult, considering that the pink-haired girl insisted on keeping her face about 5 centimeters from the blonde’s face. She awkwardly scratched her cheek. “I wanted to make a dig at Aniplex, and the options were either to explain everything to you in a café, like some exposition scene, or to hire Yoshitsugu Matsouka to record the audiobook version. But it turns out that hiring Yoshitsugu Matsouka is very expensive. And hard. And kind of impossible, for an 18-year-old girl, so I decided explaining stuff to you in a café was good enough. So, like, yeah.”

Madoka opened her mouth to retort, but she quickly closed it, after realizing she had nothing to say.

And so, the 4 girls sat there in awkward silence, eating crepes and trying to figure out how did they get stuck in this awkward as hell situation. After about 2 minutes, Felicia-Chan finished her crepe, at which point she cleaned her face from any smudges or crumbs there might have been using a napkin, then looked at the blonde girl and addressed her. “So, Justina Bieber, you said you were gonna explain stuff?”

The blonde girl almost choked on her crepe after she heard how Felicia-Chan referred to her. Madoka patted her on the back, trying to help her dislodge the piece of food that was stuck in her throat. After about 1 minute straight of nothing but coughing, the girl was finally able to breath again. She chugged a cup of water in order to calm her sore throat down, then addressed the table. “I do intend to explain everything. I’ll do it when you want me to. Also, it’s not ‘Justina Bieber’, it’s Ashley Taylor, thank you very much.” Ashley said calmly, though under the table, Madoka could see her clenching her fists tightly.

“OK. We’re counting on you, Bieber!” Felicia-Chan said, giving a thumbs up. Ashley’s knuckles turned white from how tightly she was clenching her hands.

“So, umm… Explanation?” Yachiyo said, as she has also finished her crepe.

“Right, right, sorry.” Ashley said, an awkward smile on her face, massaging her hands under the table. “So, what would you like to know first?”

“First things first, knowing who you are would be nice.” Yachiyo said, resting her chin on her hands. Ashley sighed. “Yeah, that makes sense. My name is Ashley Taylor. I’m 18 years old, and I’m originally from California. So far, I’m the only non-Japanese magical girl in the Madoka Magica franchise, and I am exclusive to the North American server of the Magia Record spin-off game, and I’ll be killed in a few days, when the North American server ends its services, and gets locked into the gallery mode. That’s a basic rundown, I guess.” Ashley replied, a sad smile on her face stemming from the complete and utter nonchalant way she explained everything, despite explaining her imminent death. “Alright… Why did you go on this journey…?” Yachiyo asked, seemingly confused by Ashley’s innate calmness. “It’s only fair that I tell you girls why I dragged you with me on this journey. I didn’t really do it to convince Aniplex to change their mind about shutting down the North American server; I knew that I couldn’t change anything, and that the decision was set in stone. To be honest, I went on this journey because I was hoping that maybe I could… Make some friends before I died. Make some friends, who’ll remember me after I die, and create some precious memories with them. Even though…” Ashley said, starting to tear up. The 3 Japanese girls looked at her in anticipation, waiting for her to finish her sentence. “…Even though, I now realize I’m lying. Even though I thought that I knew I couldn’t change anything, I know that I’m lying, because if I did know that I couldn’t change anything, then it wouldn’t… Hurt so much, knowing that nothing’s changed…” Ashley said as she sobbed. Madoka didn’t hesitate for even a second as she pulled the American blonde into a tight embrace. She didn’t really know why. The girl had lied to her, manipulated her, tricked her, and all so she could feel a bit better about her death. Madoka wanted to hate the girl, but… she couldn’t. Because every time she wanted to, she couldn’t help but remember the hardships and wonderful things they experienced together, the 4 of them. Sure, the girl had lied to her, but she was still the same girl Madoka spent a decent amount of time dimension-hopping with, and besides, she apologized, as she truly did not mean to hurt anybody, so did any of her wrongdoings really matter…? Normally Madoka would say that they did matter, no matter how much the girl had atoned for them, but considering how small said wrongdoings were, she could let it slide this one time. Madoka tightened the embrace, and Ashley leaned into the hug, cherishing the pinkette’s warm body. She didn’t want it to end. Ever. She rested her head on Madoka’s shoulder, weeping into the fabric, her tears getting soaked in it, forming a small, wet patch. When the two finally broke the hug, the eyes of both of them were red and swollen. “Ehh, what about your EX, Pink Hair!?!?!?” Felicia-Chan asked. She looked sideways, up and down, as if waiting for some evil monster to appear out of nowhere and attack them, or for a bolt of lightning to strike their table. Nothing happened. “Felicia-Chan, stop being a tease. That was a hug between friends. People do it all the time. Here.” Yachiyo said, pulling Felicia-Chan into a tight embrace. Felicia-Chan closed her eyes, afraid that Yachiyo would accidentally choke her to death, considering how small she was, but for some reason, Yachiyo’s arms were only wrapped around her shoulders. ‘Odd…’ Felicia-Chan thought to herself, until she opened her eyes, and saw a strange sight. Her vision was engulfed by Yachiyo’s dark-blue hair. But that didn’t make sense. This Yachiyo didn’t HAVE dark-blue hair; her hair was black and white, with limited shading, because of her origin, the manga universe. Felicia-Chan scanned the model’s body, and saw that Yachiyo looked exactly like before, except now, she had color. Color, like the Yachiyo that Felicia-Chan knew. She then looked down at her own hands, and realized that they looked different. More mature. Bigger. She looked further down, and saw that her legs were longer. As a matter of fact, they reached all the way down to the floor. Felicia-Chan brought her hands to her face and touched it. It felt smoother, more detailed, like she’d… “Grown up…” Felicia muttered to herself, as she realized her appearance had changed significantly. “Hey, blondie, do you have a pocket mirror?” Felicia asked quietly, extending her hand out towards Ashley. The American girl had a look of hesitation on her face, but before long, she pulled out a small pocket mirror and handed it to Felicia. Felicia took it, nodded back in thanks, then opened it and looked at herself in it. Sure enough, she looked different. She looked like Madoka and Ashley looked – normal. “I-I’m normal… I’m normal!” Felicia yelled out, everyone in the restaurant looking at them, before going back to minding their own business. “I guess you finally hit puberty, huh?” Madoka asked sarcastically, although the smile on her face was genuine, just like her happiness for Felicia. “Not that you would know, ‘Forever14’.” Ashley retorted, a smug smile on her face, she gave Felicia a thumbs up. “Mou, Ashley-Chan, stop being a meanie! By now you should know that I’m sensitive when it comes to my physical age!” Madoka said, playfully hitting Ashley, the blonde going along with Madoka’s fake tantrum, trying her best to block Madoka’s fearsome attacks. Felicia couldn’t help but chuckle at the two’s antics, a smile creeping across her face, until she heard the sound of quiet sobbing. She looked to her right, and saw Yachiyo holding the pocket mirror in front of her, seeing her colorful reflection, tears welling up in her eyes. Felicia’s smile turned a bit sad as the blue-haired girl bawled her eyes out. She pulled the older girl into a tight embrace. When Yachiyo gave her a questioning look, Felicia simply replied with “just a hug between friends, right?”, which made Yachiyo chuckle a bit herself as she smiled through her tears. And so, the 4 girls kept on hugging and crying and laughing, until a waitress timidly approached them. “Umm, excuse me? I really don’t mean to interrupt, but… You’re making a lot of noise, and it’s bothering the other customers, so if you could please quiet down a bit…” the waitress said shyly, an awkward expression on her face, as she tried her best to not sound rude, considering that saying that the noise the girls made bothered the other customers was an understatement. The other customers have been complaining about the 4 girls’ table for a while now, the staff letting the girls off because to them, the girls seemed like they were crying, trying to get over some bad news, however, the staff could no longer ignore the other customers’ requests, and so, they sent the newest waitress to take the heat- I mean, handle the situation. The 4 girls took a few seconds to relax, then, Ashley responded. “Don’t worry. We’ll be leaving now. Check, please.”

xxx

The 4 girls stood in front of the DeLorean, none of them daring coming into contact with it. They knew that the moment that they touched it; they’d officially end their journey. They’d be admitting defeat. They’d be saying goodbye. As Yachiyo was lost deep in thought, she was awakened from her trance by Ashley, who told her to think fast. Reacting quickly, Yachiyo caught the thing that Ashley tossed at her, the thing being… A set of keys?

As Yachiyo looked at Ashley in question, she simply smiled back and explained. “The car’s yours. Take Felicia back home, then return to your universe. Me and Kaname-Senpai… Need to have a talk.” Yachiyo was about to resist, but then she noticed that Ashley’s right hand was glowing a faint pink, the magical energy so intense that it made goosebumps appear over some parts of Yachiyo’s skin. She nodded in reluctant agreement, then grabbed Felicia’s hand and dragged her to the car. Well, she tried, but Felicia simply broke free from Yachiyo’s hold and lunged at Ashley, giving her a bone crushing bear hug. She sobbed, burying her head in Ashley’s chest. “I promise… I promise that I’ll never forget you…” She said into the other blonde’s chest. She looked up at Ashley, her nose already leaking snot. “You got that, blondie…?”

Ashley nodded in response, trying her best to stay strong, as Felicia buried her face in Ashley’s chest again, bawling her eyes out. Ashley could manage. She could stay strong… Is what she thought to herself, until Yachiyo also embraced her tightly, crying, at which point Ashley couldn’t stop herself anymore, letting the floodgates open, as tears started trickling and streaming down her cheeks. “Seriously, girls… It’s not fair, making me cry like that... You’re playing dirty…” Ashley said through the tears, trying her best to sound sarcastic and failing as she finally hugged the two back. The three girls just stood there for several minutes, hugging and crying, until their arms were sore and their lacrimal glands were dry, at which point they broke the hug and wiped away any remaining tears. The 3 girls nodded at one another, then, Felicia and Yachiyo went towards the car. They entered it, fired it up, then drove off into the distance, the car going into the small interdimensional tunnel that opened before them.

Ashley stood in silence watching the car leave. “You should’ve told them.” Said Madoka, her tone melancholy. “They don’t need to know that. They’ve hurt enough.” Ashley said, not turning back. She knew that if she did, she’d officially break down. Not into tears, but mentally. “They DESERVE to know that. Imagine how they’ll react when they – “ Madoka said, but Ashley turned around to face Madoka, cutting into her speech. “When they what? Discover that everything I told them was a lie? That the moment the North American server dies, they’ll forget me, because it would be as if I’ve never existed? That even my best friends, my only friends… Will never be able to remember me?” Ashley exclaimed angrily, her anger quickly turning into sadness. She did it. She turned around. She saw Madoka, and couldn’t keep it in anymore. She felt every last bit of strength and willpower in her disappear as her existential crisis hit her smack dab in the face. She cried her eyes out, collapsing to her knees as her body no longer had the strength to support itself. Ashley sobbed in despair as she punched the asphalt of the parking lot repeatedly, her words slurred by her tears. “I tried… I tried so hard to pretend I don’t care, but I do! I do, Kaname-Senpai! I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna be forgotten! They say they never will forget me, but I know they’ll forget… I know they will… Why would they remember some random, American girl who appeared out of nowhere? Some random blonde who was here for a few months, and then died? Why… Why can’t I at least be remembered…? It’s not fair! It’s not fair…” Ashley cried out, her knuckles bruised from how hard she punched the ground, but she didn’t seem to care. She was too busy crying and yelling and cursing the world for its unfairness. For its cruelty. So busy, as a matter of fact, that she hadn’t noticed Madoka tightly embracing her until the girl had whispered in her ear, trying to comfort her. “You’re not some random American blonde. You’re the American blonde with 4 blast discs.” Madoka said, trying to inject some energy into her voice, her efforts turning up fruitless. “W-what does it matter? They’ll just make some other limited 4 star with 4 discs of the same kind over in the Japanese server. They’ll never remember me… I didn’t give them anything worth remembering…” Ashley wept, unable to look Madoka in the eyes. “So what?”

“No one will remember you. So what?”

Upon hearing those words, Ashley could feel herself seething with rage. In hindsight, she knew that Madoka had no ill will when she said that, but considering Ashley’s emotional state, she couldn’t help but feel herself boiling with anger. She raised her hand and threw a weak punch in the direction of Madoka’s face, however, the pinkette simply caught it and let go, the fist plopping down on the ground next to Ashley’s knees. “Don’t you… Don’t you talk to me like that. What do you understand…? You’re the main character! You’ll never be forgotten! You could never… Never understand how I’m feeling…” Ashley cried, unable to look Madoka in the eyes anymore. She knew that what she was saying was wrong. She knew that Madoka DID know what it felt like to be forgotten by everyone, but… Ashley didn’t care. The sadness made her unable to care. As pathetic as it sounded, she just wanted to wallow in self-pity until she was finally erased from existence, and no one could bother her anymore, not even herself. Fortunately for her, she had a great friend, who would never let her do that. Ashley’s chin was gently lifted by Madoka’s hand, until the two made eye contact. “No one will remember you, and that doesn’t matter… Because I’ll always remember you. Even if the entire multiverse teams up against me, trying to make me forget you, I never will.” Madoka said, a sad smile on her face. “After all, how could I forget my best friend…?” Madoka’s voice was bittersweet. At this moment, Ashley couldn’t help but bury her head in Madoka’s shoulder and cry. Cry a river of tears.

xxx

**_2 weeks later_ **

The night breeze was pleasant. The quiet night air was filled with the sounds of hooting owls, meowing cats and the chirping of crickets. The field of white lilies was empty, except for two folding chairs, stationed behind the railing of the public balcony that rested atop the hill.

Two folding chairs.

And two teenage girls.

“If you want, I can stop time. We can watch every anime that was ever created.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather not. To be honest, with every second that passes, the feeling of cold feet gets stronger. I just… want it to be over already.”

“Ash, you’re… talking about your death…”

“I know.” Ashley said, a melancholic smile on her face.

“I don’t get it… Why are you taking it in so well? It’s not fair. You’re going to die, and no one’s going to remember you but me. How can you be so calm?”

“I’ve already had my breakdown 2 weeks ago, remember, Kaname-Senpai. And besides, just like you said. You’re going to remember me, right? Everything will be fine.” She was trying to stay positive.

Seeing her trying her hardest to stay strong, to stay calm… It hurt Madoka so much. She couldn’t pretend anymore. She started crying.

“I’m sorry, Ash… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Madoka said repeatedly, until the words lost all meaning. Ashley pulled Madoka into a tight embrace.

“Why? You didn’t do anything wrong, Kaname-Senpai.”

“No, I did. I… I lied to you. The memory alteration that will occur when the North American server shuts down will be on a multiversal scale.” Madoka looked Ashley in the eyes. “No one will remember you… Not even me… I’m sorry for giving you false hope…” Madoka said through the tears. Ashley simply tightened the embrace and ran her hand through Madoka’s hair as the pinkette buried her face in the blonde’s chest. She didn’t understand. Why was Ashley reacting so calmly? Unless…

“You already knew…”

Madoka looked up at Ashley again, and saw that the blonde had a sad smile on her face.

“Why do you think I’ve been avoiding you for these 2 weeks? I didn’t want to give myself any more reasons to regret I was ever born…” there were tears flowing down the American girl’s cheeks. Tears of pain. Of anguish. She wasn’t supposed to cry such tears, not at such a young age, but for some reason, Madoka had a feeling that this wasn’t the first time Ashley had cried such tears.

“And besides…”

Ashley broke up the hug, and Madoka reluctantly let go of the much taller girl. Ashley wiped away her own tears, then smiled.

“’Always, Somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember her, you are not alone.’ That’s what they said about you when you died, right? Well, even if you’ll forget me, I’ll never forget you. I’ll never be alone. I’ll never be forgotten. So cheer up, OK?” The blonde girl said, trying to reassure Madoka. She could only manage to weakly nod her head in response.

“Ahh, before I forget, here. Take this.” Ashley said, taking off her wristband. “Something to make it easier to remember me.” She gently placed the wristband in Madoka’s left hand. Madoka burst out into tears.

…

…

‘ _eh…?_ ’ Madoka Kaname thought to herself as she stood in a balcony on top of a hill, surrounded by a field of white lilies. She knew she came here; she just didn’t remember why. She held her forehead in confusion, trying to remember why she was here, but she had no clue. She slid her hand down over her face, feeling a strange sensation on her palm and fingertips. She looked at her hand. It was covered in tears. Big, fresh, salty, wet tears. Ones that you can find on the face of someone who finished crying recently. Madoka didn’t know why she cried; all she knew is that she did. She had a feeling that she was crying over the loss of someone important, a dear friend, but she simply couldn’t place her finger on who it was. She wondered if maybe she’d find a clue to the person around her, but… That couldn’t be, right? After all, she was all alone on the balcony. All alone. There was no other person there besides her. Madoka’s right hand slumped down, to the side of her body. She looked down, and saw something in her left hand. She brought it closer to her face, curious. It was a big, curvy, pink wristband with a black outline. For some reason, when she looked at it, Madoka could smell donuts. She could feel a humid, crowded subway. She could hear the noise of the bustling Times Square. She could feel American things. She didn’t know why. She never ate American donuts. She never used the New York subway. She was never at Times Square. And yet, looking at the wristband, she could feel those things, and so many more, all of them American. It took her a few seconds to realize that she was on her knees, bawling her eyes out, holding the wristband tightly to her chest. She didn’t know this wristband. She didn’t know who it belonged to. She had a feeling she didn’t know the owner personally, either. She knew nothing about it. And yet, looking at it, holding it, smelling it… It filled her with a feeling of pain. Of sadness. Of anguish. But also, with a feeling of love. Of time well spent. A strange, warm fuzziness. A feeling of Nostalgia.

And so, Madoka Kaname was sitting on her knees, in a balcony on top of a hill, surrounded by a field of white lilies. And she cried. She cried until she no longer could cry. Until she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

Because even though she knew she didn’t know this wristband, or who it belonged to, she had a feeling.

This tiny, nagging feeling in her heart

That whoever that person was, they used to be a dear friend

Her very best friend, in the entire multiverse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you bawled your eyes out, or that you at least teared up. If you did - Awesome! My mission has been accomplished. If not - No worries. Better luck next time (feel free to tell me how you reacted in the comments). Anyway, as you (hopefully) stare into the deep, dark abyss of meaninglessness and wonder why did I give you false hope, essentially helping you up to your feet after I kicked you down, only to kick you straight in the bells 5 seconds later by revealing that no one will remember Ashley, only to then reveal that for some reason, Madoka does KINDA remember her vaguely, but not really (it's complicated), hoping that the suffering that is this rollercoaster of a story would just end already, I'd like to say a few things:   
> 1) I really enjoyed writing this story. Especially the comedic parts, but also the heart wrenching and tear inducing parts. (If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm kind of a sadist. Sorry not sorry.)  
> 2) I really do hope you enjoyed reading this story. While this isn't my first story ever (that one will be published after this one is done), it's the first one I've ever published to an online platform, and, well... 207 hits, 12 Kudos, 3 comments and 5 chapters (at the time of writing this), it's amazing, honestly. More then I'd ever thought I'd get, and I'm really, really glad that so many people enjoyed this story that, to be perfectly candid, I kind of wrote on a whim. So, yeah, if you liked my writing style, don't worry, I'll probably publish more stories. Whether they'll be short, medium sized (like this one), or straight up multi-arc, gigantic, thousands of words epics - you'll just have to wait and see.  
> 3) Speaking of other stories - before I wrote this story (and even while writing it), I wrote other stories. All of them related to Magia Record, all of them short, all of them finished. They're all going to be published on here in a while. If you're asking why I'm saying it again, considering I basically already said it already in #2, well, it's because while those stories are more humor oriented then this. Don't get me wrong, I make sure to include at least **1** kick to the balls in each story, but they're certainly meant to make you laugh more then they're supposed to make you cry. Well, 2 of those are. 1 of them is definitely more in the "bawl your eyes out" camp. The reason I'm saying all of this is because if you read this story for it's deep, dark, serious analysis of the human psyche and so that you could get hit in the feels (AKA nobody, because chapter 6 is mostly where the story's entire emotional impact can be found), then take some time to read the summary of my other stories before you decide whether you want to read them or not.  
> 4) If you're wondering why AO3 says this story will have 7 overall chapters, even though this chapter probably felt like a decent conclusion - Don't worry. That's not a typo, or some bug. There's gonna be an epilogue, that's it. It'll be released soon. Next week. This year. Before I die? Probably? Hopefully? Maybe I'll release it before the planet collapses in on itself and becomes a black hole from which no one can escape, we'll have to see.
> 
> Sorry for rambling. Thank you, for reading my story.


	7. Epilogue: Time Keeps Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time in a while, Madoka Kaname is happy. She lives in her apartment in the heavens with her girlfriend, Homura Akemi. They cuddle and hold hands and make out and cook food together. Sometimes they even go further then that and have some fun together. Life is perfect. And yet, she can't get rid of that memory. The wristband lingers in her mind, as she desperately tries to understand it, to figure out what it means, why she has it, and most importantly of all - who it belongs to.

Madoka Kaname didn’t know how much time has passed since that night, the night where she found herself crying in a public balcony, surrounded by a field of white lilies, for no discernable reason whatsoever, all she knew is that not much time has passed. Probably. To Madoka, it felt like a few good years have passed, but she knew that it was most likely a few months, maybe a year at best. Almost every day, at night, before she went to sleep, she tried to figure out why she was crying. Who was the dear friend she supposedly lost that night? She could never figure it out. She kept the wristband, hoping it would give her a clue, but alas, all it did was cause her to cry instinctively, never actually giving her a hint as to who the owner of said wristband was. But still, Madoka never gave up. She was determined to figure out who it was, even if she’d only be able to do so after the entire multiverse was destroyed due to entropy. And so, said determination led Madoka Kaname to sit on the couch in her living room, leaning over the small wristband, wracking her brain as she tried to get any clue from the little accessory for probably the thousandth time that day. It was already around 10 PM, and Madoka was tired and hungry, not that she let her body admit it. Even though her body was yelling at her to just eat dinner already and faceplant onto her bed, she ignored it’s pleadings, instead continuing to examine the wristband. She was so focused on the wristband, she noticed nothing else. Only when Homura snapped her fingers 5 centimeters from Madoka’s face did she finally remember that there was a world besides the wristband. Slowly, she raised her head, looking Homura in the eyes. “Madoka…? Dinner’s ready.” Homura said, a worried expression on her face. She knew how much that wristband was important to Madoka, but even she had to admit that Madoka was spending an unhealthy amount of time each day staring at it, unsuccessfully trying to figure out its origin, the lack of results weighing down on the pink haired girl, despite how adamantly she denied it. In order to see just how much it was affecting her, Homura made Madoka’s favorite – cream soup – for dinner. Sure enough, a meal that Madoka would usually devour in lightning speed, and then proceed to ask for seconds and even thirds, was lying untouched in her bowl as she simply pushed the floating vegetables and pieces of meat in it with her spoon. She really had to figure out that bracelet… Who it belonged to… Madoka was deep in thought. ‘I know I’ll figure it out… I just need more time…’ Madoka thought to herself. “So, is it good?” Homura asked as she pulled her spoon away from Madoka’s face. “Yeah, it’s really good. Thanks, Homura.” Madoka said dejectedly, the wonderful taste lingering in her mouth. ‘Wait. How do I know how it tastes? I haven’t even taken a single bite.’ Madoka thought to herself, until she received her answer, when Homura spoon-fed her using her spoon like Madoka was a baby who had trouble eating. Surprised, Madoka gasped, her body instinctively trying to spit the food out, however, one look from Homura mad her swallow it without hesitation. After she did, she regarded the black-haired girl, her face burning a bright red. “H-Homura…! Where did that come from!?!?!?” Madoka stammered, trying to stop her brain from getting fried. ‘Did Homura really do that adorable Shoujo trope to me right now!??!? Well, whatever trope it is, I don’t care! I need more of it!’ Madoka thought to herself, embarrassed by what Homura did, while also determined to make sure it would happen again. “You haven’t taken a single bite yet, so I thought I’d help you.” Madoka could only grasp her aching heart at that response. ‘I’m so lucky to have ended up with such a cute girl…’ Madoka thought to herself wistfully, a distant look in her eyes as she got lost in deep thought again. This time, however, she was quickly awoken out of her semi-trance when Homura moved in to spoon-feed her again. “Homura! I can eat myself!” Madoka said, a smile on her face. She hoped that would calm her girlfriend down, but she forgot one crucial detail; her girlfriend was Homura Akemi. Once she started acting all lovey dovey, **there was no stopping her**. “Madoka Kaname. Your girlfriend made you a meal, so you’re gonna let her spoon-feed you, and you’re gonna enjoy it, is that clear?” Homura said sternly. She was dead serious. “Yes ma’am!” Madoka saluted, leaving her mouth wide open. Homura put the spoon in Madoka’s mouth, and the pink haired girl closed her mouth, swallowing the food. And so, Homura Akemi spoon-fed her girlfriend that dinner, and while the 2 girls did enjoy that very much, it also meant that Homura neglected her own dinner, so by the time she ate her food, it was ice cold. She was about to throw it away, but before she did, she found Madoka’s spoon inside her mouth, the food now warm. While being spoon-fed did make her happy, she couldn’t help but shoot a guilt-tripping look at Madoka for magically reheating the food. Nonetheless, she let herself be spoon-fed without much resistance. When the two girls finished eating, they both put their dishes in the sink and prepared to wash said dishes. Their hands overlapped as they grabbed the same plate. “Homura, let me wash the dishes.” Madoka said, an obnoxiously happy smile plastered on her face. “No no no no no! I’ll do it. You must be tired, please, allow me.” Homura responded in kind. The two girls each tugged at the plate, not giving the other one an inch. “Homura… Let… Me… Wash them.” Madoka said with barely hidden frustration, her eye twitching. “No… It’s… Fine! Go… Rest!” Homura said, her eye also twitching. The tugging intensified. “Homura Akemi, let me do the dishes! You already made dinner tonight, and you’ve been working your ass off, let me do it!” Madoka yelled, now pulling at the plate with both her hands. “No way! You might not notice it, Madoka, but you’re exhausted! Go to sleep already, I’ll take care of this!” Homura yelled back, also pulling at the plate with both hands. Madoka knew there was only one way she was going to win this fight. She wasn’t proud of it, but she knew she had to do it. Slowly, carefully, Madoka approached Homura and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Homura’s face instantly burned red, her brain fried, her body hurtling backwards from the sheer shock of what just happened. Madoka happily pumped her fist in victory. “Mou, Madoka, that’s not fair, kissing me like that out of nowhere! You’re playing dirty!” Homura exclaimed, flailing her arms. “Heh. You snooze, you lose. Now come on. Go to sleep, Homura. I’ll take care of the dishes.” Homura sighed reluctantly, putting her hands up in the air. “Alright. You’re right…” She said, rising to her feet. Madoka nodded happily. “You’re right… In that whoever snoozes, loses!” Homura said as she was now hugging Madoka from behind. “H-homura, let go! I’m gonna drop the…!” Madoka said, until Madoka.exe crashed when she felt something. Homura’s hand, creeping towards somewhere where she DEFINITELY shouldn’t go, at least not without permission. The plate fell out of Madoka’s hand, but Homura fortunately caught it before it could shatter against the sink. “H-homura… What are you…” Madoka said, but Homura simply placed a finger on the pinkette’s lips. “Shh… I think we both need this, Madoka.” Homura whispered directly into Madoka’s ear as she hoisted her into a princess carry, then carried her all the way to the two’s bedroom, closing the door behind them.

**_Several hours later…_ **

Madoka lied on her bed next to Homura, both girls exhausted, both girls sweaty, both girls buck naked. “That… Was… AMAZING!” Madoka yelled out happily, her tiredness quickly being replaced with a feeling of hyper. ‘Is this what adrenaline feels like?’ Madoka asked herself, not really caring, as she wanted more. “It felt great, right, Homura?” Madoka asked, looking at the ceiling.

No response

“Homura?” Madoka asked again.

Still no response.

“Homu – OH MY GOD, ARE YOU OK!?!?!” Madoka asked as she turned to face Homura, seeing the spent, exhausted expression on the girl’s face.

“I…I’m fine. Just remind me to never tease you into having sex again… I didn’t know it was even possible to be this spent… or for your insides to hurt so much, for that matter…” Homura whimpered, looking as if her soul was on the verge of leaving her body.

“Sorry. I didn’t know I was being too intense.” Madoka said, bowing in apology to Homura, who couldn’t help but chuckle at Madoka’s over the top actions.

“Still. I’m glad you’re happy now. To be honest, seeing you so down because of that wristband… It’s hard, Madoka. I want you to be happy.” Homura said wryly, her worry evident to Madoka.

“it’s fine. I appreciate your concern, Homura, but I’m fine, really. I just… I don’t know how to describe this. I just have this… feeling. This feeling that I just HAVE to find out who this wristband belongs to, or… I don’t know.” Madoka said.

Homura couldn’t help but sigh. Madoka really was too determined. ‘Still. That’s part of what I love about her so much.’ Homura thought to herself, a smile plastered on her face.

A tiny yelp escaped Madoka’s mouth as Homura suddenly spooned her from behind. “H-homura!?!?” Madoka stammered, trying to lower her face’s body temperature. She failed. “Shh… Just relax. Take a deep breath and just… Try to sleep. I promise that I’ll keep you safe, so just sleep.” Homura whispered into Madoka’s ear, as her hands traced circles over Madoka’s stomach.

“Alright… Good night, Homura…” Madoka muttered sleepily as she felt tiredness wash over her. She closed her eyes as she fell asleep. For the first time in a few months, Madoka Kaname slept a good night’s sleep.

xxx

It’s been a few good months ever since Madoka Kaname had stopped torturing herself over the wristband, endlessly trying to figure out its origin, her efforts turning up fruitless. While she didn’t give up on it, she didn’t try to understand it at the cost of her health. However, the day was certainly different then any other day. Madoka was trembling. Her feet felt cold, literally. She was gathering the courage. “Are you sure you want to do this? He’s been waiting for the last few years; one more day won’t kill him.” Homura asked Madoka, worried. “That’s exactly why we need to go. Why I need to go. I’ve kept him waiting for long enough. I’ve kept them waiting for long enough. It’s time I finished this.” Madoka said, trying to hide her terror with a smile. It didn’t work. Her face was as pale as paper. Homura was about to say something, but Madoka simply placed a finger on her lips. Relax, will you? She told Homura. “You’ll be there with me the whole time, after all.” Homura sighed. She knew that once Madoka had set her mind on something, there was no convincing her. Reluctantly, she squeezed the pinkette’s hand as the two girls gazed down at the sky below them. “You ready?” Madoka asked. Homura smiled at her, nodding her head. The two girls counted down from 3, then, at the count of 1, they jumped.

Despite their supernatural physiology, the 2 girls still had to slow their descent before long as to not be flattened into a pancake against the pavement. They also, unfortunately, could not hide their presence, so they had to land in a place where no one would see two 15-year-old girls slowly descending from the heavens with wings on their back. Truly, not something you see every day. Gently floating down to the ground, Homura was shaken. She really didn’t expect their descent to be so fast. Madoka, on the other hand, looked like all of her stress and anxiety fizzled. The color returned to her face, and she was upbeat, a happy bounce in her step. She was seriously addicted to adrenaline.

“This can’t be a coincidence. Right?” Homura asked Madoka. “What do you mean?” Madoka asked, a confused look on her face. Homura simply gestured her to turn around, so she did, her expression changing from that of confusion to unimpressed understanding as she realized what Homura was referring to. “Yeah, that is a bit _too_ convenient.” Madoka said, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. Madoka and Homura were standing directly in front of Shaft’s back entrance. More specifically, they were standing in front of the entrance to the studio where they were supposed to record **the** movie. Needless to say, destiny was aware of what they were trying to do, and for probably the first (and only) time in their life, it wasn’t trying to screw them over. “Well, nothing to do but go in, right?” Madoka asked Homura. “Yeah…”. The two girls entered through the back door, navigating through the maze of corridors until they found who they were looking for. Akiyuki Shinbo. “Umm, excuse me…” Madoka said awkwardly as she was trying to catch his attention while he was talking with someone. Without even turning around, he simply said “autographs are only given out during events”, not even bothered by the fact that two kids supposedly somehow entered without permission. The look on Madoka’s face summarized how she felt; She didn’t think people would forget her that much. “Ahem. Excuse us.” Homura coughed, her tone a bit less polite then Madoka’s. Shinbo finally turned around and looked at them, an annoyed look on his face. 5 seconds later, he realized who he was looking at, which then he grabbed both Madoka and Homura by their wrists and dragged them to a recording booth that was labeled as “4th Movie”, closing the door behind the three. “Yuki-San, Saito-San, you should have called if you were gonna come. We don’t really have anything ready, but… Don’t worry! I’ll see how fast I can get everyone here! This is the first step of progress we’ve made in almost 4 years! Ahh, this is so exciting!” Shinbo said quickly, talking so fast that Madoka and Homura could barely understand him, both of them simply nodding along, pretending they knew what he was saying. The two girls totally forgot about the fake identities they came up with for when they auditioned. The way the world worked was… weird, to say the least. For some reason, actual, real life events that happened to Madoka and her friends were somehow perfectly adapted into an anime series with terrifying accuracy. Despite this strange, borderline existential-crisis inducing phenomenon, the 5 friends knew that if anyone was going to make an anime that was somehow a perfect adaptation of their lives, no one was going to voice the characters, except for them. So, they auditioned under fake names, and, to say the least, they crushed it. As the two girls sat down on folding chairs that were in the sound booth’s control room, Shinbo rushed out of the room, singing to himself about how he was finally going to make that movie. Homura and Madoka sat there in silence. They knew that it was time. Time to finally make it. Make that movie. There was just one problem. “I have to go to the bathroom.” Madoka suddenly said, standing up and exiting the control room. She started walking to the bathroom, her pace quickening as she started running. ‘I forgot the most important rule of traveling – always take a leak before leaving home!’ Madoka thought to herself as she rushed to the bathroom. Fortunately, she remembered where it was. She turned the corner and…

**BAM!**

Madoka fell backwards onto her butt as she tried to recover from colliding headfirst into another human being. She rubbed her aching head, trying to ease the pain a bit. There were papers scattered around her, who probably belonged to the person she collided with. “Ahh, I’m sorry! Please, let me help you with that!” Madoka said without a second thought, starting to collect the papers. “No, no, no, no! It’s fine, really! It’s my fault for not being careful.” Replied a feminine voice. Regardless, Madoka collected all the papers and handed them over to the person. Finally, she looked up and saw the person she ran into, literally.

Her complexion was pale, at least by Japanese standards. Her eyes were a bright pink, a slight glitter to them. Her long and flowing honey blonde hair caught Madoka’s attention, especially it’s cyan and magenta tips. While her thick, horn-rimmed black glasses obscured some of her face, it wasn’t hard to see that she was clearly a very beautiful woman in her late teens, early twenties. She was wearing a purple blazer with a white undershirt, and a black tie, a fashion statement that should’ve never ever worked, yet somehow looked so natural on the girl. Her blue, knee length skirt and her red thigh highs were also the same in the fashion department. Madoka inspected the girl from head to toes, and realized what she was looking at; this girl, who was clearly born to be the “hot cheerleader” tried so hard to be the “cute nerd”, that she somehow accidentally created an entirely new character archetype; the “hot nerd”. ‘Yabbe… Am I actually going to cheat on Homura? No! I have an iron resolve! I’m loyal! I’m never going to cheat on Homura! …Right?’ Madoka thought to herself, as looking at the girl required everything she had to not nosebleed. Madoka really had a weakness for nerdy girls. Realizing she was staring, Madoka tried to engage in conversation, before things got **too** awkward. “Sorry about that. I really should’ve been more careful. I think I now understand why they said in school not to run in the halls.” Madoka said, an embarrassed smile on her face. The girl couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Yeah. But I guess that now you’ve learned your lesson, so you won’t do it again, right?” the girl said, a smile on her face. Despite the fluency in which she spoke Japanese, it wasn’t hard to figure out that she was a foreigner. Madoka had a sinking feeling that she knew this girl, she just couldn’t place her finger on it. “Have we met before?” Madoka asked, thinking that maybe the girl knew something she didn’t. The blonde scratched her chin, thinking, then replying. “Nope! Don’t think we did! Pretty sure this is our first meeting!” the girl said, flashing Madoka a grin. “So, what do you do here?” The girl asked. Madoka shifted around uncomfortably. “Well, this is kind of awkward to say, but… I’m the main lead of the 4th movie, the one that’s been delayed for years now. My name is Aoi Yuki. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Madoka said awkwardly, extending her hand out towards the girl for a handshake. The girl took Madoka’s hand and shook it. “I’m the new assistant writer for the movie. My name is Ashley Taylor. It’s a pleasure meeting you too.” Ashley said, a massive smile plastered on her face.

**The end.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, like, I pretty much made an "afterword" and a "thank you for reading" in chapter 6, so I don't really know what to tell you guys. Umm, follow my profile, be patient, and you'll get new stories to read? Like, the stories are ready, I just want to take a small hiatus before publishing them, if that makes sense. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.


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